THE distraught girlfriend of a notorious Bolton criminal, blasted to death in a gangland execution, has spoken of her love for him.

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

As exclusively revealed in the Bolton Evening News, 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 five-year-old boy's stepfather had a drugs-related meeting.

During the 1998 trial Webb was also referred to as a "well known local criminal".

Heartache

But now his girlfriend has spoken of her heartache at his death, which came 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 woman, 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."

Detectives in Wigan contacted the woman at her flat after Webb's body was discovered just after 3am on Friday.

She says she still does not know why the injured woman -- who she claims was a friend of Webb's -- was at his flat on Whiteledge Road, Bryn, Wigan, at the time of the shooting.

She added: "I wish I had been there instead of her. I can't answer the question of why she was there."

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

The young woman has admitted she was aware of Mr Webb's criminal past, but hit out at what she claimed was gossip.

She said: "I never saw that side of him. All I ever saw was a kind, warm-hearted person who would never do anybody wrong.

"Every minute we were together we never argued. We had plans about what we were going to do. We were going to have a family.

"Someone has stolen all my dreams, my life and my memories. I've not spoken to any of Billy's family yet. I just wish I could share this moment with his mum.

"On Sunday I went to church and prayed that Billy would rest in peace and I told him I loved him. No-one will ever realise just what we had."

And she urged her boyfriend's killers to search their conscience as she continues to grieve, adding: "I don't expect them to walk into a police station and give themselves up.

"But I want them to think that they have left children without a father, a girlfriend without a boyfriend and a family without a son, brother and uncle."

The BEN revealed last night that a post mortem examination had confirmed Webb's death was due to gunshot injuries.

His girlfriend's tearful plea came as detectives renewed their appeal for potential witnesses to contact them.

Police chiefs want to speak to anyone who may have seen a car parked outside the Bryn flat and also anyone who may have seen anyone visiting the murdered man in the days leading up to the killing.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the murder incident room on 0161 856 7019, call into a police 'pod' close to the murder scene, or contact Crimestoppers on free phone 0800 555111.