Dark web 'ricin plot': Mohammed Ali found guilty of trying to buy poison featured in Breaking Bad
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Version 0 of 1. A software programmer has been found guilty of attempting to buy a deadly poison from an online black market, after he was inspired by the hit US television series Breaking Bad. Mohammed Ali, 31, hid behind the username Weirdos0000 to buy 500mg of ricin for $500 – enough to kill 1,400 people – from a dealer on the Dark Web, the Old Bailey heard. Unbeknown to Ali, the dealer was in fact an FBI agent posing under the username Psychochem. The agent tipped off police in England, and sent the father-of-two a harmless powder, rather than the substance said to be hundreds of times more deadly than cyanide Police swooped on Ali at his home on Prescot Road, Liverpool, when he accepted the delivery of a toy car with five vials hidden in the battery compartment. Ali initially searched for poisons including abrin, ricin and cyanide in October 2014, and waited until January 2015 to approached a Dark Web user he believed could act as a supplier. At one stage during the deal, Psychochem advised Ali to test the ricin on a pet. Police later found a to-do list on Ali's computer reminding him to pay the dealer, and to “get pet to murder”, the court heard. Ali told the court he was simply “curious”, was unaware that the substance was illegal, and that he wanted to test the boundaries of the Dark Web. While exploring the Evolution dark web market place, Ali found items ranging from drugs, guns, other illegal items, he told the court. “Because I had been watching Breaking Bad TV show I just had ricin in my mind,” he said, adding that he decided against testing the poison on an animal and resolved to flushing it down the toilet instead. Walter White, the central character of the AMC show, describes how ricin is his poison of choice because it does not leave a trace in victims. Prosecutor Sally Howes QC described Ali in court a “chancer” who lied to police about having ricin when he was arrested in the hope that he would “get away with it”. Merseyside Police officers following an anti terror raid on the home of Mohammed Ali (Image: PA) But his defence team argued that Ali wanted ricin for a “peaceful purpose”, and a psychologist told jurors he exhibited signs of Asperger's syndrome. The programmer was found guilty of attempting to possess a chemical weapon between 10 January and 12 February. Delivering the verdict, Mr Justice Saunders said there was not evidence to suggest Ali was planning a terror attack, or that he had a specific victim. However he said he did not believe Ali intended to dispose of the poison. The judge ordered a psychiatric report as he adjourned sentencing to 18 September. The maximum sentence for the offence is life imprisonment. Additional reporting by PA |