Pair are jailed for 30 years over contract killing of drugs dealer

The victim, Leeds car dealer and drug supplier Christopher Hartley, was found with gunshot wounds to the head and chest on a quiet country road last September after David Large, 36, recruited his friend Simon Mullen, 39, to carry out the execution.

Yesterday the pair, who will both serve a minimum of 30 years, showed no emotion as a jury found them both guilty of murdering Mr Hartley.

Judge James Goss QC said it had been a "calculated, cold-bloodied and brutal crime" involving efforts to make it look like a drugs deal gone wrong.

The court heard that Mr Hartley's mother Vera knew little about her son's activities

and saw him as her "treasured son".

Brother Steven Hartley said his mother had treated Large as a "fourth son".

He added: "David Large sat in her living room after Chris had died and pretended to grieve with our mum.

"He told us he was helping the police all he could.

"We now have to live with this awful betrayal for the rest of our lives."

When police searched Mr Hartley's five-bedroom detached home at Haigh Wood Lodge, Batley Road, Tingley, near Leeds, they discovered a drugs factory and almost 20,000 Ecstasy tablets.

The prosecution said Large wanted Mr Hartley dead so that he could continue his relationship with a woman.

Large and Mullen discussed the murder plot over internet site Facebook and on the day of the killing Large travelled to London to arrange his alibi.

Former offshore worker Mullen, of Farding Square, South Shields, shot Mr Hartley twice at close range after he was lured to Litherop Lane, Clayton West, near Huddersfield, on the pretext of a drugs deal.

Large, of Rona Croft, Rothwell, Leeds, returned to Mr Hartley's home and took an estimated 100,000 from his safe which was later spilt with his jobless friend Mullen, who went on a 25,000 spending spree.

Yesterday it was revealed that when Mullen was just 17 he was convicted of manslaughter relating to an incident involving a vehicle taken without consent.

Judge Goss told Large that the primary motive for the killing had been his desire to be rid of the controlling and dominating influence of Mr Hartley.

Det Supt Chris Thompson, who led the case, said: "David Large was a man steeped in crime who lived an opulent lifestyle, owning fast cars and large houses both at home and abroad, all of which were funded through fraud and drugs.

"When he wanted to split from his partner and lover of 15 years, Large carefully planned with Simon Mullen to lure Christopher Hartley to a secluded spot in Huddersfield where he was shot through the head at point blank range in what was a pre-meditated, cold blooded and merciless killing.

"Following the killing, Large and Mullen concocted a complex alibi deliberately attempting to mislead the police that this was a drugs deal gone wrong.

"However, under investigation, this alibi unravelled to reveal the extent of their lies and deception.

"Large and Mullen are fantasists and believed that they had committed the perfect crime. Like others before them, they now face the consequences of their actions."

n Bradford man Aftab Khan, 37, of Back Giles Street, Little Horton, who filmed part of the trial on a video camera disguised as a pen, has been jailed for a year after he admitted a contempt of court allegation.

Khan had twice visited Large in prison and later illegally filmed court proceedings as a vulnerable witness gave evidence.