THE distraught girlfriend of a notorious criminal linked to the murder of five-year-old schoolboy Dillon Hull has spoken of her love for him after he was blasted to death in a gangland 'execution'.

Billy Webb, also known as William Craig, was gunned down five days ago in a raid on his first floor flat.

Mr Webb was found in a pool of blood with gunshot injuries to the head and chest, and another woman in the flat at the time fled screaming after she was shot in the elbow.

The 42-year-old man, who has a long record of criminal offences, had been linked to the Dillon Hull murder trial, as a man with whom the boy's stepfather John Bates had a drugs-related meeting.

Dillon, a former pupil at Longshaw County Primary School, lived in the Infirmary area of Blackburn until his family moved eight months before his death in 1997.

He was gunned down as he walked in a street with his stepfather.

Paul Seddon, of Bolton, was jailed for life for the murder and two other men were jailed for 18 years and 16 years respectively for their part in planning the assassination of Mr Bates, who the court heard had refused to sell drugs for a gang.

During the 1998 trial Webb was referred to as a "well known local criminal." But now his girlfriend has spoken of her heartache at his death, just hours after he phoned her to pass on his love.

And she admitted she still did not know why the other woman had been in the flat when the gunman struck.

The 21-year-old, who lives in the Wigan area and is too scared to be named, broke down in tears as she told how she had met Mr Webb through a mutual friend after his release from remand.

She added: "I spoke to him at midnight, just a few hours before he died. He rang me up and called me his little princess.

"He made me the happiest woman alive. He was my shoulder to cry on, my hand to hold when I needed support.

"I want the person responsible for this to know that by killing Billy they have also killed me. We knew we were happy together and we would always be together. We were going to take every day as it came."

Webb had been due to appear at Liverpool Crown Court in October to face a charge of conspiring to supply drugs.