Three teenagers have received custodial sentences for the manslaughter of a man they lured to a Kent beach and killed, believing him to be a paedophile.
At the Old Bailey on Thursday, a 16-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy each received seven years in custody, and a 15-year-old boy five years, for the manslaughter of 49-year-old Alexander Cashford in Leysdown-on-Sea, Isle of Sheppey, on August 10 last year.
Prosecutors outlined how Mr Cashford was chased and attacked with rocks and a bottle, found lying face down in mud. The court heard he met the 16-year-old girl at around 7pm on the seafront, and was dead just over an hour later. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said the incident began as "a bit of mischief" by teenagers on holiday, but escalated into "dangerous misconduct which risked and ultimately took a man’s life."
The sentences were delivered to a packed public gallery, with cries heard from the dock.
Addressing the young defendants, the judge said that none of you can “sensibly claim” to have been led on or manipulated into bad behaviour, adding: “You all planned to trap and harm this man over a few days and as a group.”
“It was an appalling incident and a senseless loss of life.”
Jurors had unanimously acquitted the teenagers – who cannot be named for legal reasons – of murder following a trial at Woolwich Crown Court in February.
But they found the girl and 15-year-old boy guilty of manslaughter, while the 16-year-old boy admitted manslaughter days into the trial.
A post-mortem examination showed Mr Cashford had injuries to his face and head, bruises on his limbs and body, and a number of fractured ribs that had punctured his lung.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said: “I am satisfied that before your trial began in January this year, there could not have been any doubt in the minds of any of you, that but for your attack on this man, he would not have died that day, in that place.”
A statement from Mr Cashford’s parents, David and Linda, read out at the sentencing hearing described him as a “kind, friendly and compassionate person” who cared about local animals and wildlife, and loved all sports.
They said they were “emotionally crushed” and the impact on the family was “practically impossible to put into words”.
They added he was the rock in their life and “the slander against Alex’s name is particularly difficult, we know this could not be further from the truth”.
A statement read from his sister Emma Gould said she has been left an only child and her brother was taken away in a “cruel and violent” way.
She added: “How will I explain to my six-year-old son he will never see his uncle again?”
During the trial, jurors were told Mr Cashford had given the girl his number on August 8, after meeting her by chance at an amusement arcade, and he also handed her a business card with a name on that was not his.
Using the alias Sienna, the three teenagers exchanged messages with Mr Cashford and arranged to meet him by the sea wall.
The 16-year-old boy had saved Mr Cashford’s number in his own phone as “pedo” and around 75 messages were sent between them, the trial heard.
The man, who claimed to be 30, asked the girl if she liked champagne and said he wanted to kiss her, with “Sienna” then suggesting they meet at her parents’ empty home and telling him to bring alcohol.
The trial heard when Mr Cashford and the girl met, the two boys followed them as they walked along the promenade in the Isle of Sheppey village before the attack began.
Mobile phone footage showed the older boy striking Mr Cashford on the head with a bottle, before he and his male co-defendant ran after the fleeing Mr Cashford.
Meanwhile, the girl shouted “f****** paedophile, I’m f****** 16, get him” as she filmed the boys chasing Mr Cashford.
Mr Cashford fell and the 16-year-old boy threw a rock at him, which one eyewitness described as “the size of a cereal bowl”, the court had heard.
Afterwards, the older boy shared footage of the attack with three people, with the caption: “f***** pedo (sic) up lol”.
Giving evidence in the trial, he claimed he attacked Mr Cashford because he felt police “wouldn’t have done anything” if they had reported him for trying to meet up with the girl.
On Thursday, representing the boy, Danny Moore KC said he feels genuine remorse for what he did, and asked for the shortest possible sentence for the boy who “couldn’t have had a harder beginning in life”.
During the trial, it was heard the girl and the younger male defendant said there was never a plan to hit Mr Cashford.
Danny Robinson KC, defending the girl, told the trial texting Mr Cashford started as a “big laugh”, and may have turned “into a desire to expose him as someone who should be named and shamed”.
However, the attack was not the product of an “organised plan to kill or cause anyone really serious harm, it was a childish escapade that got out of hand very quickly with tragic consequences”, he said.
At the sentencing hearing on Thursday, Mr Robinson said the girl has thought about what she did wrong and in an expert’s view she is remorseful for her actions.
Meanwhile, for the 15-year-old defendant, barrister Benjamin Newton KC asked for an intense supervision order instead of youth detention for the boy, whom he said “played a minor role” in the incident.
Mr Newton said the youngest boy, who was 14 at the time, did not arm himself when he had the opportunity to do so and his risk of reoffending is low.
Reacting to the sentences, Kent Police detective sergeant Alastair Worton said: “Alexander Cashford ‘s life was cut short following a vicious attack carried out by a group of teenagers who plotted to meet him under false pretences.
“The devastating outcome of the offenders’ brutal actions that day has left a family grieving the loss of a loved one and young lives changed forever.
“The sentencing imposed on the offenders reflects the conspiratorial nature of their behaviour and the tragic consequences of their crime.”
