A drug dealer who plunged a knife into the back of his victim in Rochester after a deal went wrong has been jailed for life for his murder.

Billy Dole has been ordered to serve a minimum of 21 and a half years for the brutal stabbing of Peter Beale.

CCTV of Dole and Webb in Rochester and Dole being arrested at Gatwick. Footage: Kent Police

The 30-year-old went to jail with the words of the victim's sister ringing in his ears.

Sharna Best looked directly at her brother's killer and told him: "You haven't just killed Peter..you have killed his family!"

It was nearly two years ago that Dole knifed Mr Beale, who was 39 and from Sittingbourne.

He lay bleeding to death in an alleyway in the shadow of Rochester Bridge, as Dole and pal Levi Webb rifled through his pockets, retrieved the drugs and took a gold watch.

They also stabbed their dying victim five more times in an attack which was described as "horrible violence...that went too far".

The dealer then fled to Northern Cyprus as police closed in on him and Webb - his drugs runner - went to Brighton with his girlfriend.

Dole, of Chorister Rise, Hoo, returned to the UK and was charged with murder - and later pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court.

He also admitted being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.

Webb, 23, of Scholars Rise was acquitted by the jury of murder but later admitted the lesser charge of manslaughter.

He was jailed for 10 years and nine months.

Judge Philip Statman said: "I find this was premeditated revenge. Dole went to the scene armed with a knife to defend his drugs line.

The hearing was attended by 10 members of Mr Beale's family, including his mother Tina and his sister Sharna, some of them wearing "Justice For Peter" T-shirts.

Kate Lumsdon QC, prosecuting, told how the blow from behind severed Mr Beale's aorta and caused his death - but the thug also stabbed his victim through the neck and four more times.

She said neither Dole nor Webb called an ambulance after the savage attack and left their victim to die alone in the alleyway.

Earlier Mr Beale and his pal Richard Barham had called Dole's '692' drugs line in Strood to do a deal and Webb was sent to meet the two in Canal Road, Strood.

But Webb was then robbed and the drugs taken. As Mr Beale walked away across the bridge the runner was calling his boss.

Dole dashed to the scene to meet up with his pal - they were known as Joe and Frank - and Webb followed the two men. Dole confronted Mr Beale and attacked him.

Mr Beale's body was found by chance the following day when a woman crossing the bridge spotted his yellow T-shirt in the undergrowth.

By that time Dole had driven in a Vauxhall Astra van to a relative's home in Wisbech in Cambridgeshire - as his wife, Rachel Woods,33, and 58 year old mother in law..Linda Harris plotted his escape from justice.

Harris, of School Road, Wisbech and Woods, from Hoo, were both later jailed for their part in allowing Dole to become a fugitive.

Mr Beale's sister Sharna Best - who now cares for Mr Beale's teenage daughter - said: "This has been a long time coming."

Looking directly at Dole she said: "It wasn't just Peter you killed that night. You killed my whole family... and you have killed me."

She said the family didn't condone Peter's drug use but added: "He didn't deserve to be murdered."

Ms Best said that on Webb's Facebook page it read "**** the justice system."

She added: "I hope my brother's face will haunt you."

Judge Statman read a letter written by Dole in which he expressed his remorse.

His barrister, Louise Sweet QC said: "He wants the family to know he never set out that day to kill their loved one. That was not his intention. His intention was to get back the drugs."

She said he went to the rendezvous armed with a knife because he believed Webb had been robbed by Mr Beale at knifepoint.

Ms Sweet said Dole now accepts he deserves his sentence but has shown repentance.

Oliver Saxby QC, for Webb, said the two men had gone into the alleyway to retrieve the drugs.

"The evidence was that Mr Beale went at one or both of them and Dole then did what he did. But it was not premeditated."

Mr Saxby said had the drugs been handed over by Mr Beale the two would have left. "This was revenge but a reaction to what Mr Beale did."

The judge said he accepted that Dole only meant to cause Mr Dole "really serious harm".

But he said Webb had shown "scant remorse" and hadn't even made an anonymous call to the ambulance service.

He added: "While Mr Beale had his problems with drugs he was a man much loved by his family and a fantastic father."

Detective Chief Inspector Tristan Kluibenschadl, Kent Police’s senior investigating officer for the case, said: "The attack on Mr Beale was clearly premeditated and the remorselessness of both offenders is shown by their decision to leave him lying in an alley to die.

"I am pleased that our investigation left them with no choice but to plead guilty.

"Their bad character is further evidenced by their desire to make money through selling illegal drugs.

"I am pleased our efforts have resulted in two dangerous offenders being convicted of serious offences and the substantial sentences they have received mean they are no longer able to cause harm to the public."

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