Dealer jailed for drug addict Anthony Dickson murder

A drug dealer who shot an addict in west London with a sub machine gun over a £50 robbery has been jailed for life.

Anthony Dickson, 33, died on 24 December 2010 in Marvell Avenue, Hayes, weeks after stealing crack cocaine from a runner working for Anthony Small.

Small, 32, of Harlesden, north-west London, also had two prosecution witnesses threatened, the Old Bailey heard. He was found guilty of murder.

Fellow drug dealer Max Felicino, 27, of Hayes, was convicted of manslaughter.

Small, who also tried to intimidate his former girlfriend into giving him a false alibi, was ordered to serve a minimum term of 34 years. He was convicted of murder last November.

The victim stole the drugs from Satwant Virdee who worked as a runner for Small and Felicino, the jury heard.

The dealers called Mr Dickson, of The Green, West Drayton, to a park where Small shot him twice at close range, jurors were told.

Ahead of the trial Small had two prosecution witnesses threatened and intimidated his ex-girlfriend over providing an alibi, the court heard.

Sentencing Small, Judge John Bevan QC said: "This was a planned execution over a paltry £50 robbery and a few wraps of Class A.

"I suspect that you regarded the victim as disrespecting you, combined with a lack of self-control and a total lack of proportion for what he had done.

"What entitles you as a drug dealer to administer a death sentence in addition to the misery you inflict on other drug addicts is beyond me."

Felicino, a father-of-three, of Waylands, was sentenced to 14 years for the killing and another three years for smuggling drugs into prison. He was convicted earlier this month.

Officers found 57 wraps of heroin, containing about six grams, in his cell at Belmarsh prison, the court heard.

The judge told him: "You are intelligent, street-wise and in my judgment entirely lacking in scruples."

Both Satwant Virdee, 40, of The Warren, and Clifford Stevenson, 48, of Normandy Drive, of Hayes, were acquitted of the murder.

Det Insp Martin Ludlow said: "Anthony Dickson was someone's father and son. His family will have to come to terms with his violent, premeditated murder."