A drug dealer accused of deliberately running over and killing a father-of-two in his car and dragging him for almost 100 metres up a road has been cleared of murder and manslaughter.

Erasmus Ahwoi, who maintained he did not see Thomas Rossiter standing in front of him when he drove off in Swanley, was instead convicted of causing death by dangerous driving by a 10-2 majority.

The 30-year-old, from Croydon, had denied murder and the two alternative charges.

Judge Jeremy Carey adjourned sentence until after February 8 because of drugs matters Ahwoi is facing.

But he warned the sentence could be “well into double figures - and that is not giving away or prejudging anything”.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the victim died under the wheels of Ahwoi’s hired Kia Venga in the daylight hit-and-run in Swanley after suffering multiple injuries.

Mr Rossiter, 42, had arranged to meet Ahwoi - known as Black Jack - on July 4 last year.

He got into the car with his brother Joe Lee in Hart Dyke Road. Ahwoi claimed the pair tried to rob him of his drugs.

Mr Rossiter got out and was in front of the car when Ahwoi drove off into Lynden Way with him under the car.

Several residents and passing motorists in the area reported hearing a revving car engine and then screaming for the vehicle to stop.

Mr Rossiter, who was 5ft 3in tall, shouted “God help me” just before he was struck by the car.

One witness told police he saw Mr Rossiter lying in the road before the car drove over his legs and his head.

The Kia Venga then made a heavy revving sound, followed by what was described as “a scratching noise, as if someone was dragging a heavy bag along the floor".

Mr Rossiter was “spat out” from beneath the car as it turned into Rowan Road. Part of Mr Rossiter’s body would have been protruding.

A police investigator concluded the effect on the car of him being underneath would have been “readily apparent” to the driver.

The jury of six men and six women also heard Mr Lee repeatedly shouted at Ahwoi that Mr Rossiter was under the car.

He screamed: “You have ******* killed him. He’s underneath. You have killed my brother.”

Ahwoi fled the scene and met up with an ex-­girlfriend. Police later checked her phone and found there had been internet searches for "Kent hit-­and-­run" and other similar phrases.

Ahwoi denied he deliberately mowed down Mr Rossiter. He told the jury he did not see him in front of his car and did not know he was underneath it as he drove away.