A father and two sons have been sent for trial at Leeds Crown Court charged with the murder of a Keighley car dealer.

David Deakin, 51, from Liversedge, David Harold Edmund Deakin, 25, of Staincliffe, and Mark Andrew Deakin, 30, also of Liversedge, are accused of killing Mark Hickman. Mr Hickman, 32, of Whin Knoll Avenue, was found with severe head injuries and stab wounds at Shelf near Halifax on February 13.

He had been worried over his dealings with business rival Richard Mears and had hired David Deakin Snr to put a stop to his problems, prosecuting counsel Chris Batty told a committal hearing at Halifax magistrates court. Mr Hickman had been in a relationship with Mr Mears' wife and had been assaulted by him. He had also seen two of his cars burned out and was worried about further attacks.

Another man, Christopher Brett, had put Mr Hickman in touch with David Deakin who was to sort out the dispute. A few days after the men had met, Mr Hickman had told Brett that there would be no further problems from Mr Mears.

The court heard phone records showed Mr Hickman had been in contact with Deakin Snr for 11 days prior to his death, including the hours just before he was found with head wounds and stab injuries.

Mr Hickman had arranged to meet Deakin Snr with between £4,000 and £5,000 in Denholme Gate Road on the afternoon of February 13. Calls were made from Dea-kin's mobile phone near the scene of the murder. Another call was made from the phone in an area close to where two cars were found burned out later that evening.

An off-duty police officer saw a car matching one of those vehicles leaving Bridge Lane at speed at 6.30pm.

Mr Batty said: "A witness listening to a radio scanner happened across one half of a mobile telephone conversation at 5.35pm on February 13. He heard the voice of a middle-aged man saying 'Dave, do not bring the car down the path, it's too risky. We will get him and slit his throat'.

"That witness went to his girlfriend's house and told her what he had just heard. Bells started to ring in her mind when she read that two men called David had appeared in court charged with Mr Hickman's murder. The fact that Mr Hickman's throat had been cut was never released to the press by police yet she could tell the officers of this incident. It is the belief of the prosecution that David Deakin Snr was talking to David Deakin Jnr during that telephone conversation."

The trial will start on July 27.

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