Two teenagers are now facing jail time after being convicted of manslaughter for brutally attacking a 49-year-old man, Alexander Cashford, which they recorded for social media. The attack followed an incident where Mr. Cashford allegedly made inappropriate advances toward a schoolgirl.
The court found the two teens guilty of manslaughter after they assaulted Cashford by punching and kicking him, ultimately leaving him in a pool of his own blood. A third teenager had already admitted to manslaughter charges prior to the conviction of the other two.
During the attack, a 16-year-old girl filmed the entire incident. The assault took place after Mr. Cashford approached her at an amusement arcade in Leysdown-on-Sea in Essex on August 8 of the previous year.
The girl, along with her two male friends, who were 14 and 15 years old at the time, labeled Mr. Cashford’s contact in their phone as “pedo.” They are now a year older as they face the consequences of their actions.
Mr. Cashford, who falsely claimed to be 30, believed he was in communication with a 16-year-old girl named Sienna. Over the previous 48 hours, he had sent numerous texts, complimenting her and inquiring about her interest in champagne.
The situation escalated when the boys ambushed Cashford shortly after he began walking with the girl along the promenade. The older boy used an empty glass bottle to hit Cashford on the head, while the girl encouraged the attack.
The older boy said he originally intended just to ‘hit’ Mr Cashford, because he felt it was ‘wrong’ for him ‘trying to get with a 16-year-old’.
Jurors at Woolwich Crown Court found the trio – all on holiday with their families – not guilty of murder.
Alexander Cashford was killed by the trio last summer
Distressing footage played during the trial showed the moment the older boy began attacking Mr Cashford, who was unaware he was being followed while walking with the girl.
Mr Cashford ran off, with the two boys in persuit, but then fell to the floor.
He got up and began running again, with the older boy hot on his heels. Mr Cashford stumbled again when he got to rocky ground.
Witnesses said they saw the older boy throwing rocks or stones at Mr Cashford as he again lay prone on the ground.
Footage was captured by the girl, filmed on the older boy’s mobile phone, in which she was heard yelling: ‘f****** paedophile, I’m f****** 16’ and ‘get him’.
The group then left Mr Cashford face down and casually walked back into the town.
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.
The 16-year-old boy told jurors he sent a video recording of part of the attack to three other friends because he was ‘showing off’.
He and his friends were arrested within around half an hour after a quick-thinking eye witness secretly tailed the group and helped direct police to their location.
The court heard the older boy expressed surprise that he was being arrested on suspicion of murder, telling officers: ‘I’m a big guy. If I wanted to kill him, I would have done.’
Mr Cashford, 49, was attacked with a bottle
He was also kicked about the body
He was pronounced dead at the scene
The boy told jurors: ‘I was surprised. The way I saw it, I didn’t do enough damage.’
He admitted manslaughter but denied murder.
The girl, and the younger boy, denied manslaughter.
The girl declined to give evidence, with her counsel Danny Robinson KC telling jurors: ‘The plan was to give Mr Cashford a slap.’
The younger boy said he wasn’t aware of the plan to attack, but went along for the safety of the girl.
‘I didn’t want him to think he could get away with meeting up with younger girls,’ the boy told the court.
Detective Chief Inspector Neil Kimber from Kent Police described the ‘macabre’ way in which the children filmed the incident and then uploaded it to social media almost instantly.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘Whilst the nature of the assault itself is quite alarming, the more alarming feature is the way that such young people have gone about doing this to someone of 49 years of age.
‘For some people at a young age, you’re like: Why are you using social media as a platform to promote this kind of stuff?
‘It’s quite alarming, really, for people at that age to do that.’
The court heard Mr Cashford showered the girl with compliments over text, saying ‘I would really like to kiss you’.
They then agreed to meet up at 6.45pm on the Sunday – an earlier time than ‘Sienna’ originally suggested, after Mr Cashford told her he was ‘working nights’.
In reality, police believe Mr Cashford wanted the meeting to take place earlier rather than later because he was on a tag due to being convicted of stalking, and needed to be home that evening as part of his licence conditions.
Mr Kimber said: ‘He was keen to meet up in the afternoon, he couldn’t really meet up in the evening because he had somewhere to be.’
He said there was no evidence to suggest the group were part of a so-called ‘paedo-hunter’ vigilante group, although the girl initially told police she wanted to ‘expose’ Mr Cashford.
Mr Kimber said: ‘There was nothing illegal about his actions, whatever people’s views are, he certainly didn’t act illegally.
‘We deal with the incident based on the evidence and the legal standing. Really, it’s not a moral judgment, it’s an evidential judgment.’
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
