The sister of Keighley car dealer Mark Hickman found battered to death on a country lane believes he was the victim of a vendetta.

And a distraught Irene Barry said: "He did not deserve that."

Mrs Barry also revealed that Mr Hickman was badly injured in a hammer attack 18 months ago which fractured his skull, and that some of his cars had been attacked.

Speaking at a press conference today at Halifax police station, Detective Chief Inspector Howard Crowther, who is leading the murder hunt, said they were not ruling out any links to previous incidents and were in the process of gathering further information.

Mrs Barry, 46, of Diamond Street, Keighley, was speaking after Mr Hickman was found battered to death in Bridge Lane, Shelf, on Friday.

Mrs Barry, who described him as a "Jack-the-lad" figure, said: "The family are very distressed, including his girlfriend Sonya. He did not deserve that - nobody does. It hasn't really sunk in yet."

She fears her brother - one of triplets and from a family of seven children - was the victim of a vendetta.

She said: "He got hit over the head with a hammer about 18 months ago. He was in hospital and we thought he was going to die."

Police today would not comment directly on the previous attack.

Mr Hickman, who lived alone in Whin Knoll Avenue, was the father of a four year-old son. He also kept two dogs, including a rottweiler.

Mrs Barry said: "Somebody had a vendetta against him and it has led to murder. Recently he appeared to be having some bother with people torching his cars. It happened while he was on holiday in America.

"The night he left he told his girlfriend he would not be long. If he had thought that he was in anyway in danger he would have taken his dogs. He would not have gone on his own."

Mr Hickman and his two sisters Josie and Debbie were local celebrities in Keighley when they were born in March 1965. They were the first triplets in the area for years.

They were featured in the Telegraph & Argus with their late mum, Mary. The family lived in Bracken Bank Grove, Keighley, moving into North Dean Road and then eventually Victoria Avenue, Keighley. Mr Hickman attended Highfield school then Greenhead school and then trained as a carpenter and later ran an upholstery business.

DCI Crowther said today Mr Hickman was the victim of massive head injuries.

Detectives have not yet recovered the weapon and say there is no known motive.

After Mr Hickman's body was found his car and another vehicle were discovered burned out at nearby Windy Hill.

Yesterday the West Yorkshire Police Operations Service Unit were out combing the Windy Hill area for clues.

Detectives are appealing for anyone who was in the Bridge Lane area or Windy Hill area on Friday night between 5.30pm, when Mr Hickman was last seen, and 7.30pm to come forward.

A total of about 25 officers are working on the case and house-to-house inquiries will be continuing today around the village of Shelf where Mr Hickman was found.

Inquiries are also being made in a bid to find anyone who saw the two cars found burned out at Windy Hill near junction 22 of the M62. Mr Hickman's Peugeot 405 and a Renault 25, which were seen in Shelf and then found destroyed about 15 miles away.

DCI Crowther said: "We also want to trace another vehicle seen at 7.45pm in Oldham Road, Windy Hill. It was parked at the bottom of the track where the two cars were burned out."

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