Two Drug Dealers Jailed For Roles In Rochester Murder

Two drug dealers who stabbed a man in the back before leaving him to die in Rochester have been jailed for more than 30 years following an investigation by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.

Billy Dole and Levi Webb were involved in a dispute which resulted in 39-year-old Peter Beale being stabbed six times in September 2018. The victim was found dead the following morning by a member of the public.  Dole pleaded guilty to murder in March 2019 and Webb admitted manslaughter in December.

Both were sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday 17 July 2020.   In addition to murder, both men admitted being concerned in the supply of a class A substance.

The court heard Mr Beale was killed following a drugs dispute between himself and Webb in Rochester on the evening of 17 September. Following the dispute Webb contacted Dole, who was an accomplice involved in supplying drugs. The pair were recorded on CCTV meeting up in the town centre before the assault was committed near the High Street bridge.

Mr Beale was stabbed six times before he was left to die in the street and was found by a member of the public the next morning. His trouser pockets had been turned inside out and holes in one of the pockets matched some of the knife wounds, revealing the pocket had been searched after the assault.

Dole was the first offender to come to Kent Police’s attention after detectives reviewing CCTV identified a white Mercedes in the area between 10.25pm and 10.36pm the previous night- the time Mr Beale was likely to have been fatally injured.  

The footage also recorded Webb waiting for his arrival and the pair meeting before walking to the scene of the offence. Dole’s partner Rachel Woods, and her mother Linda Harris, helped him book and board a flight to Turkey before officers could arrest him. However he was apprehended at Gatwick Airport when he returned on 27th September. Webb was arrested on 21st September and Mr Beale’s DNA was found on a watch in his possession.

• Dole, 28 and of Chorister Crescent in Hoo, pleaded guilty to murder and admitted to being concerned in the supply of a class A substance. He was sentenced to 21-and-a-half years.
• Webb, 22 and of Station Road in Northfleet, admitted manslaughter and being concerned in the supply of a class A drug. He was sentenced to 10 years and nine months.  
• Woods, 32 and of Chorister Crescent, Hoo, was found guilty of assisting an offender following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court which concluded on 29th November 2019. She was sentenced in January to three years and nine months.
• Harris, 57 and of School Road, Wisbech, Norfolk, admitted assisting an offender and was sentenced in January to three years and five months. 

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 the open 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.’