Brian Kenneth Penney sees murder-for-hire charges dropped

BusinessmanBrianKenneth Penney says he's relieved after the Crown withdrew charges against him related to an alleged murder-for-hire plot.

Penney tells CBC News he plans to spend time decompressing with his family and will try and resurrect his business career now that the two-year ordeal is over.

"I hardly knew how to deal with at the time that it happened," Penney says on being charged in August 2013. "I'm just very relieved that it's over now."

Penney had been accused of trying to hire a hitman to kill Barry Pincock of Beaver Bank. The pair began their business relationship in 2011 and worked as private lenders.

A spokesperson for the prosecutor's office says the charges were withdrawn after the Crown received new evidence and felt there was no prospect of conviction.