The Old Bailey has heard James Harding was the “most senior player” in a high-level £5m drugs operation with Jayes Kharouti acting as his “loyal right-hand man”
A cocaine importer planned to “blast the brains open” of a courier and was willing to pay a hitman £100,000 to carry out the “dream job”, a jury at the Old Bailey has been told.
James Harding, 34, was the “most senior player” in a high-level drugs operation worth around £5million between April and June 2020, while Jayes Kharouti, 39, was his “loyal right-hand man” in the business. Both men are charged with conspiracy to murder, while Harding is also accused of conspiring with others to import cocaine, charges they deny. Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC said the pair had been using EncroChat – an encrypted messaging platform.
Kharouti told other EncroChat users he would pay £100,000 for a hitman to carry out the shooting, which he described as “a dream job for a killer”. The court previously heard the defendant had admitted using the handles “besttops” and “topsybricks” on the platform, while it is alleged that Harding used the handle “thetopsking”.
Kharouti, messaging as “besttops”, reported back to “thetopsking” on April 3, 2020 in relation to a discrepancy of whether six or seven kilograms of cocaine had been delivered to a client the day before. Mr Atkinson told jurors: “It was in this context that Mr Harding first raised the ‘cryp robbery’ – that is the taking of drugs from a courier – and that was to resolve into the plan to kill a courier, the conspiracy to murder.”
In an exchange with Kharouti, “thetopsking” said they could “off his driver or something”. Later in the conversation, Kharouti said: “1. How we gonna get bits away safely. 2. Do we hit hem (him) at exchange location our (or) let hem go then follow and hit. 3. Do we just blast he’s (his) brains open at exchange.”
The plan to have the unnamed person killed had originated with Harding and he had “set out the plan” to Kharouti, before the latter tried to recruit a gunman, Mr Atkinson said. In further EncroChat messages between the two handles on May 25, Kharouti said he was “getting (a) strap dropped to me” and was “gonna empty 6 bullets” when testing the firearm later, the court heard.
He told “thetopsking” he had identified a “perfect location” for the shooting. He then added: “He’ll be there dead for hours no one will even no lol jungle tings.”
On the same day, Kharouti messaged another associate who had identified a potential hitman, using the handle “notnice”, and asked: “Listen full M u have a shooter? 100k payment”. Later in the conversation, he said: “Guy gets called to our choice of location. Then gets blasted.”
Kharouti had kept “thetopsking” informed on any updates to the plan, which aimed to make a typical exchange for drugs look like a robbery, the court heard. Asking the handle whether the shooting would be a “head shot our (or) chest shot”, “thetopsking” replied: “Both. Double tap.”
Mr Atkinson told jurors Harding and Kharouti were the “driving force” in a drugs operation which involved “a series of large-scale importations with a view to the commercial supply of cocaine in this country”. Large amounts of cocaine were trafficked into the UK in lorries from the Netherlands, with the size of the imported parcels varying between approximately 20kg (44lb) and 160kg (353kg).
The EncroChat users mentioned potential customers across the country, including in Birmingham, Sheffield, Nottingham and Luton, the court was told. The jury previously heard that EncroChat was a communications system which allowed users to communicate using an end-to-end encrypted messaging application, operating in a similar way to WhatsApp.
It could only be obtained by purchasing a specific device, which normally cost between £1,200 and £1,500 and was distributed through a number of “authorised resellers”. Administrators of the platform said its domain had been “seized illegally by government entities” on June 13, 2020.
Kharouti, of Epsom, Surrey, denies conspiracy to murder, while Harding, of Dubai, denies the same charge and conspiracy with others to import cocaine. Jurors were previously told Kharouti has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine.
The trial continues.