THE secret and lavish lifestyle of a Huddersfield murder victim was unveiled.

Police investigating the contract killing of West Yorkshire car dealer Christopher Hartley found a luxury life as they investigated his background.

Mr Hartley had been found shot dead behind his Jaguar car in Litherop Lane, Clayton West, last September.

And as detectives probed his background, they discovered a drugs factory in a bungalow in the grounds of his five-bedroom detached home.

A murder trial jury heard yesterday that although the Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs had no records for victim Mr Hartley, the 45-year-old owned four properties, including a house in Spain, and had outstanding mortgages in excess of £1m when he died.

Hartley also owned various cars including a Bentley, a Range Rover and a limousine and also used at least two aliases.

It also emerged that he had given false statements on mortgage applications in which he claimed to be have been earning more than £10,000 a month as a sales manager or getting £135,000 a year as an operations manager.

When Hartley’s home at Haigh Wood Lodge, Batley Road, Tingley, was searched last September police uncovered a pill-making factory in an adjacent bungalow, which he had bought for £310,000 in 2007.

Inside the bungalow officers found 19,000 ecstasy tablets, about two kilos of skunk cannabis and drums containing tens of kilos of chemicals imported from China for use in producing so-called natural high substances.

The jury at Bradford Crown Court heard that there was a cement mixer in the property and a punch press for making pills.

Hartley’s former gay lover David Large, 35, of Broadcroft Drive, Tingley, and his friend 39-year-old Simon Mullen, of South Shields, have both denied being responsible for the murder.

The prosecution has alleged that Large wanted to continue his new relationship with a woman and recruited Mullen to kill Mr Hartley last September.

Earlier this week the court was told that Mullen, who was alleged to have been hired to kill Mr Hartley, had gone on a £25,000 spending spree shortly after the murder.

Barrister Jason Pitter, for the prosecution, said Hartley had connections with various companies including sex tourism company Eastern Delights, but there was no evidence of the businesses paying him any significant income.

The trial continues.