Scotsman Faces A 5-Year Jail Term For Using Bitcoin To Buy Firearms From the Dark Web

By Prashant Jha

A middle aged man from Scotland is facing a five-term in prison for having purchased illegal firearms in lieu of Bitcoin from the dark web. The police authorities of the region report that 48-year old Scotsman David Mitchell, shelled out his Bitcoin holdings to buy a host of illegal ammunition from the United States via the dark web.

The resident of Edinburgh ended up purchasing a 9 mm handgun, 150 rounds of loading ammunition, magazine and a suppressor. For the whole lot, he allegedly paid a little less than one Bitcoin (as per the price of Bitcoin at press time). All the things he bought amounted to roughly $2,750.

Since the arms were being sent over from the United States, the package containing the ordered items were intercepted and checked by the officers of the Organized Crime Partnership, a body that has recently been formed to fight organized crime. What the police then did was they sent a wrong package to Mitchell’s address, with a surveillance mechanism in place so that the police would be able to track Mitchell down.

The police then raided his house with a search warrant. When they found the fake package hidden beneath a couch, they arrested him on the grounds of illegal possession of firearms.

On 5th December 2018, he was produced at court before a judge. He pleaded guilty to three counts of illegally possessing firearms. After the case went on for a brief while, Mitchell was given a five-year-long sentence according to the 14th January verdict.

According to Mitchell’s lawyer QC John Scott, Mitchell, a man with a credible employment record and no prior convictions, had only meant to make the purchases as an experiment, to see if it really could be done. He added that Mitchell’s history of depression and related psychological issues did not make him likely to pose a risk to public security.

While announcing the verdict, Judge Lord Pentland took note of that fact but said:

“You claim that you had no intention of causing harm to anyone but the fact remains that you went to considerable lengths to get hold of a potentially lethal weapon and ammunition. You must have appreciated that this was unlawful. For this conduct you must be punished.”

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