A drug dealer has denied murdering a mechanic over a £24,000 narcotics debt.

John Seton, 24, from Yalding, allegedly blasted 29-year-old Jon Bartlett in the face with a 12-bore shotgun after the pair agreed to meet in a quiet back road in Kent.

Mr Bartlett ran his own garage, JB Crash Repairs, but after his death police found documents linking him to the sale and purchase of cocaine, ecstasy, amphetamines and cannabis.

Among the paperwork was a reference to Mr Bartlett owing Seton £24,000, the Old Bailey was told this week.

Before the shooting on March 31, 2006, there was frequent phone contact between the two men which resulted in a meeting just after 7.30pm near Chislehurst Common.

But Seton, a self-confessed drug dealer, insisted he had not killed Mr Bartlett that evening.

Seton told jurors he had carried out drug deals worth thousands of pounds with Mr Bartlett, but denied owing Mr Bartlett large sums.

He said: “Mr Bartlett owed me for a separate transaction which would have cancelled it out. There was nothing outstanding at that time.’

Seton insisted he never carried a gun and denied claims from prosecutor Victor Temple, QC, that he was prepared to use guns if needed.

Jurors heard mobile phone evidence placed Seton in the area of the shooting just minutes after Mr Bartlett died, but his handset was then switched off and was used only once again.

Seton denied disposing of the phone and insisted he lost it while getting out of one of two vehicles.

The court heard that after the shooting Mr Bartlett’s killer fled in a silver Vauxhall Vectra which he had bought second-hand. Later that night it was found torched.

Seton’s friend, Lee Osborne, 25, who used addresses in Vicarage Road, Egham; The Exchange, Bromley, and Duddington Court, Mottingham, denies assisting an offender.

Seton went to Holland where he lived under a false name until his arrest in May last year. He was extradited to the UK and charged.

The trial continues.