A JEALOUS woman who tried to hire a hitman to assassinate her Sports Direct love rival has been caged for 12 years.
Whitney Franks, 26, became so bitter of a co-worker who was also having sex with their boss that she scoured the dark web for a contract-killer to take her out.
The spurned lover offered £1,000 for an assassin to kill 29-year-old Rutt Ruutna but her twisted plot was outed by a BBC investigative journalist who tipped off the police.
Franks, wearing a black top and a high ponytail, sobbed in the dock as Judge Paul Dugdale locked her up for 12 years.
A court previously heard the defendant was competing for the affections of Franks' general manager James Prest.
This was despite both women being aware that he had a long-term partner and two children, aside from the affairs he was having with each of them.
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Franks' messages, posted to a group called the Sinaloa Cartel Cyber Team – claiming to be the infamous Mexican drug cartel – had been discovered by the BBC journalist in August 2020.
Prosecuting, Andrew Copeland said the pair had been working at theMidsummer Place store in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.
He added: "Ms Ruttna left to go to another store but on August 18, she returned to meet up with Mr Prest.
"They became romantically involved and the relationships continued."
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During the trial, it was revealed that Franks had been suspicious of the affair for over two years.
Franks later confronted Mr Prest on August 17, 2020 visibly upset and made a comment about him sneaking off to Ms Ruttna's house.
A day later she sent an email to Mr Prest talking about her problems, discussing her difficulties when she was at school and family issues, and alluding to taking her own life.
On September 1 that year, now aged 25, she sent another email to Mr Prest which read: "I can give you the entire world James, if you can give me a chance.
"I think you could be the happiest you have ever been in your life. I truly mean it. Just give me the chance to prove it to you."
Mr Copeland went on to discuss how Carl Miller, an investigative journalist for the BBC, busted Franks' activity on the dark web after finding two conversations.
One 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."
I can give you the entire world James, if you can give me a chance
The police tracked down Ruttna at work who was in utter disbelief, but she added: "I have a hunch who did this – Whitney Franks."
Franks was then arrested and interviewed under caution, she admitted browsing the dark web because she was interested in it.
The defendant's statements from Starling bank account indicated that £282.57 had been produced into a BitCoin wallet.
The jury found Franks guilty in relation to solicitation of murder, saying it was akin to attempted murder – Franks denied the charge claiming the website was a scam and her victim was not in danger.
She was convicted unanimously of soliciting murder after just four hours of deliberations in July this year.
Defending, James McCrindell said Franks had been isolated over the 2020 lockdown with "no-day-to day structure" which he said "exacerbated her jealousy" of Ms Ruutna.
And he argued that because Franks – who had good character references in the past – had made an effort to get her BitCoin back, the inference must be that she persisted and then stopped.
'IMMATURITY'
Sentencing in Reading Crown Court, Judge Paul Dugdale accepted Franks showed "immaturity" with the affair and was "very young, and somewhat impressionable" during her time at Sports Direct.
But he added: "Whitney Franks may have not really thought through what she was doing through naivety.
"But accessed the dark web to access an organisation calling themselves the Sinaloa Cartel Cyber Team and she tried to contact them to hire someone to kill Rutt Ruttna.
"She gave that organisation Rutt Ruutna's name, address, social media details, everything they needed to find her.
"She said right at the start 'I'm looking to hire for the murder of a woman'.
"I understand from everything I have read how out of character that was and, very sadly for Whitney Franks and her family and friends here, that action makes this offence very serious."
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Franks, of Two Mile Ash, Milton Keynes, Bucks., was sentenced to a total of 12 years imprisonment.
She will have to serve two thirds of this sentence before she is eligible for parole.
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