Christopher Hartley murder accused’s panic over drugs

Apr 21 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A MAN accused of involvement in the contract killing of his business partner and former gay lover has told a jury how he felt “absolutely devastated’’ when he found out about the shooting.

Tearful David Large said he came across the scene of Christopher Hartley’s murder last September when he returned to West Yorkshire after a drugs trip to London.

But the 36-year-old told Bradford Crown Court yesterday that he thought his closest friend had been arrested when he saw police vehicles parked in Litherop Lane near Clayton West.

Large said the road was a location where car dealer Mr Hartley regularly conducted his business which also included selling fake ecstasy pills.

The court heard that Large had arranged for his friend, Simon Mullen, to meet up with the 45-year-old for the first time that night so Mullen could hand over some drugs money that was owed and take another batch of the pills back to the North East.

But Large claimed that when he spoke to Hartley on the phone at about 9.45pm on the night Hartley was shot dead, his friend told him that Mullen was not a priority for him and that he was busy.