A drug dealer and his "runner" turned killers when a deal went wrong, a jury has been told.

Mercedes driving "boss" Billy Dole, 28, wanted revenge after his runner Levi Webb, 22, was robbed of cash, drugs and a watch, it was alleged.

Their victim, Peter Beale, 39, from Sittingbourne was spotted near Rochester Bridge and stabbed in the back - severing an artery.

A jury at Maidstone Crown Court heard how Dole, who has since admitted murder, fled the country within two days of the brutal killing.

Now Webb, of Scolars Rise, Strood, has gone on trial for murder. He denies the offence.

Prosecutor Katherine Lumsdon claimed: "It is our case that Dole and Webb together murdered Mr Beale."

She claimed that Beale had arranged a drugs deal with Webb - but instead robbed him.

"This action was to have fatal repercussions as Webb immediately telephoned his boss Dole. The two of them located Mr Beale and then stabbed him to death.

"The Crown say this was brutal murder committed in revenge by Webb and Dole."

The body of Mr Beale was found in undergrowth near Rochester Bridge in September last year by a woman on her way to work.

The prosecutor claimed Mr Beale was found with a blister pack of pills on his chest and clutching a broken bottle neck.

She said the victim had been stabbed in his back and in the neck and three times in his pockets, where the lining had been turned outwards.

Ms Lumsdon claimed the victim was stabbed before being knocked to the ground when his pockets were rifled.

She told how Mr Beale had decided to rob a drug dealer and set up a deal with a man known as "Frank".

Beale and pal Richard Barham took a train from Rainham to Chatham before walking to Canal Road in Strood where Mr Beale met the drug dealer.

"The Crown say this was brutal murder committed in revenge by Webb and Dole" Prosecutor Katherine Lumsdon

Minutes later Beale told Mr Barham he had "thrown a knife" and had taken £300 in cash and crack cocaine.

The two men then went into an alley to smoke the drugs as Dole received a call from Webb before driving his Mercedes to the Crown Pub where Webb was waiting after tracking the two men, it was alleged.

Mr Barham then "ran for his life" as Dole and Webb confronted Mr Beale demanding a return of the drugs, cash and a watch.

The prosecutor alleged: "Then between 10.31pm and 10.34pm the two men killed Mr Beale."

She said Mr Barham then went to Strood station to wait for his friend but left in a taxi when he failed to show.

The trial, which is expected to last for a month, continues.

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