London: Two men from Longsight, Manchester, plotted to behead singer Joss Stone with a samurai sword and dump her body in a river, it has been revealed.
Kevin Liverpool, 35, and Junior Bradshaw, 32, had an "arsenal of weapons" which also included hammers and a knife as they set off on a 275-mile journey to the rich soul star's isolated Devon home, the Mirror reported.
They were arrested after an "eagle-eyed" villager phoned police to report two suspicious men wearing beanie hats and dark clothes.
Prosecutor Simon Morgan QC said that they got a car, collected their weapons of choice and made their way to within a short distance of Stone's house.
"She is an extremely wealthy young woman. Fortunately, they were not successful although she was at home," he said.
Exeter crown court heard police spoke to Liverpool and Bradshaw during the journey from Manchester after they crashed on the forecourt of a service station, but let them go.
Morgan said Liverpool researched the plot and made notes about various music artists before settling on Joss as a target.
Police found a series of text messages relating to the plot, the jury heard.
It was alleged the pair had seen the isolated white house where the star lived in Devon on celebrity house tour TV show MTV Cribs.
They carried out internet research in a Manchester library to find the address in Ashill, near Culmstock, and were "spot on with her current whereabouts."
Liverpool and Bradshaw had a black samurai sword and two knives hidden in their red Fiat Punto along with two hammers, a lock knife and metal spike when they set off before 2am on June 13, 2011.
The court heard that the men also had two black balaclavas, eight gloves, a hose pipe, a roll of black bin bags and gaffa tape.
ANI
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