A British man accused of attempting to carry out a contract killing of a prominent Pakistani blogger spent days watching his home and bought a chef’s knife, a court was told on Friday.
Muhammed Gohir Khan, 31, is standing trial for conspiracy to murder the liberal activist Ahmad Waqass Goraya, who lives in self-imposed exile in the Netherlands.
Khan, from east London, was arrested and charged in June last year after visiting Rotterdam, where Mr. Goraya lives.
According to the prosecutor, Khan twice travelled to the Netherlands under strict pandemic measures last year, after being offered up to £100,000 to act as a hitman.
The supermarket worker, who was deeply in debt, messaged his wife: “I’m going for us, so we have something... I love you a lot.”
Mr. Goraya was away at the time and, unable to locate the blogger, Khan returned to the U.K. on June 23, the prosecutor said.
