A Milton Keynes woman allegedly attempted to hire a hitman to murder her love rival colleague.
Whitney Franks, of Two Mile Ash, reportedly tried to hire a hitman to murder her colleague after they both had an affair with their boss, Reading Crown Court heard on Monday.
Prosecutor Andrew Copeland told the court of the love story stating that: "Whitney Franks and Ms Ruutna were work colleagues together with James Prest, who was general manager at Sports Direct in Milton Keynes.
"They were not only work colleagues but love rivals of James Prest and both were romantically involved with him at the same time. Both knew James Prest had a long term partner with two young children."
The court heard that the pair were both knew that James Prest was not prepared to leave his long term partner or their children.
"By 2016 they became romantically involved with each other. This continued until 2017 when Ruut Ruutna joined the same branch. She started a relationship with James Prest in 2018."
This continued through Franks moving to the Bletchley branch, with relationships ongoing into 2020, The Mirror reports.
On 18th August 2020, police were contacted by a BBC investigative journalist,who had been doing research into the dark web.
"When people buy services on the dark web it is usually for drugs or weapons, but here the website the journalist was looking at dealt in death," the Prosecutor told.
The journalist found a message including Ms Ruutna's MK-based address, her Facebook profile and description.
Franks has not denied writing this, said Mr Copeland, prosecutor.
The post read 'I'm looking for the murder of a woman. I have £1,000 and I am willing to pay more. This woman has caused a lot of problems for myself and others. Please can you help sort this out.'
Whitney Franks
The jury heard she added: "I need this done as soon as possible. I'm not looking to waste anyone's time. How can I be sure I'll get away with it? I need it done badly." The defendant also inquired if she could pay in monthly instalments, saying "I'm very serious about this”, it is claimed.
When questioned, Franks suggested that she was using the site to 'find out if it was a scam' and to 'see what it was about'.
Ms Ruutna was contacted by the police, and she said that she had a 'hunch' as to who it could be.
Franks, 26, Two Mile Ash, was arrested on 10th September and denies one count of soliciting murder between August 17th and September 1st, 2020.
The trial is still ongoing.
