A drug dealer is facing life behind bars after he was convicted of

shooting a rival dead over a £24,000 debt.

John Seton, 24, formerly from Yalding, blasted mechanic Jon Bartlett in the face with a 12-bore shotgun on a side road by Chislehurst Common, Kent, in March 2006.

When police searched the victim’s home they found tens of thousands of pounds worth of drugs. The court heard that Mr Bartlett ran his own garage but was involved in the sale and purchase of drugs, including cocaine and Ecstacy.

Seton, who had denied murder, was convicted at the Old Bailey last Friday (Aug 22). On Tuesday, Seton’s friend, described as a top London music producer and DJ, Lee Osborne, was cleared of assisting him.

Mr Osborne, 25, a rising star in the capital’s “hard house” scene, was said to have given Seton a new phone and driven him to a safe house in Surrey after the murder.

Mr Osborne, who used addresses in Surrey, Bromley and Mottingham, had denied helping Seton by giving him a mobile phone and driving him to Surrey and then to Bromley. He claimed he had hired a white van, caught on CCTV, to move house and always maintained he knew nothing about the murder.

After killing Bartlett, Seton fled to Holland where he started a new life as a drug trafficker using a false name and passport. He was arrested in Arnhem and finally returned to the UK on a European arrest warrant and charged with the murder.

Seton, of no fixed address, told the Old Bailey he had dealt in drugs with Mr Bartlett but denied the victim owed him any money.

He will be sentenced on Friday September 12, and remains in custody.