A 22-year-old drug dealer who was heavily involved in bringing class A drugs into Kent was shot dead in a dispute about a girl, a court heard.

Daniel Quilliam, who lived in Maidstone, was found inside a car in a south London car park with gunshot wounds.

Details of his life emerged as Mr Quilliam’s killer, Michael Blake, from Brockley, south London, began a life sentence for murder with a recommended minimum tariff of 30 years.

Mr Quilliam was known to be an active supplier of cocaine and crack cocaine in and around the Maidstone area.

He had been arrested several times on suspicion of possession and supply of class A drugs,

PC Adrian Parsons, drugs liaison officer for mid-Kent, said the death of Mr Quilliam in April last year would have had a “short-term effect” on the Maidstone area.

He added: “We know that when one supplier goes, he is soon replaced by another one.”

During the trial of Blake at The Old Bailey, the court heard Mr Quilliam had been with his girlfriend in Catford when the dispute began.

At about 3am Mr Quilliam was getting into his car when three people with hoods were seen and shots heard. Mr Quilliam died instantly.

Blake, 22, pleaded not guilty when the trial began on October 9, but was convicted on Wednesday. Another man from Brockley, was found not guilty.