A MURDER trial jury has started hearing the closing speeches in the case of two men accused of the contract killing of West Yorkshire car dealer Christopher Hartley.

Prosecutor Alistair MacDonald QC began his closing address to the jury at lunchtime yesterday in the case of 36-year-old Leeds man David Large and his friend Simon Mullen, 39, from South Shields.

Both men have denied murdering 45-year-old Mr Hartley whose body was found close to his Jaguar car in a lay-by near Clayton West last September.

Mr Hartley, who lived in a five-bedroom house at Haigh Wood Lodge, Batley Road, Tingley, died from gunshot wounds to the head and chest.

The prosecution has alleged that his business partner David Large, who previously had sexual relationships with Mr Hartley, paid Mullen to carry out the shooting so that Large could continue his relationship with a girlfriend.

Last week a tearful Large told Bradford Crown Court that he felt “absolutely devastated” when he found out about the fatal shooting.

During the trial it has emerged that Large and the deceased were involved in selling fake ecstasy tablets, and Large claimed that he came across the murder scene last September when he returned to West Yorkshire after a trip to London.