A courtroom was presented with footage showing a teenager initiating a bottle attack on a man accused of being a pedophile, who was subsequently killed with rocks.
The case involves three teenagers—a 16-year-old girl and two boys aged 15 and 16—who stand accused of murdering 49-year-old Alexander Cashford on the Isle of Sheppey last August. Allegedly, they enticed him to the location under the pretense of meeting the girl.
All three, who had traveled from London to the seaside resort for a holiday, have pleaded not guilty to the murder charges. However, the 16-year-old boy has confessed to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
The jury at Woolwich Crown Court was shown video evidence recorded by the girl on the night of August 10, 2025, when Mr. Cashford was killed in Leysdown-on-Sea, Kent.
The footage depicts the 16-year-old boy, dressed in a grey t-shirt, striking Mr. Cashford on the back of the head with a glass bottle, causing him to flee along the beachfront promenade.
He is then chased by the same boy and another individual wearing a red t-shirt.
One of the boys is heard to shout ‘you’re a paedo’ at the fleeing Mr Cashford, the court heard yesterday.
Running at full pelt, the 49-year-old trips and tumbles to the ground, with the boy in red falling over him, before recovering to his feet.
A video seen by the jury shows one of the boys smacking Mr Cashford over the back of the head with a glass bottle
Mr Cashford then runs away down the beachfront promenade with the teens in chase
Alexander Cashford, 49, was beaten to death with rocks in Leysdown-on-Sea on the Isle of Sheppey on August 10, 2025
Mr Cashford takes off again down the path, and the boy in the 16-year-old boy appears to try to kick his heels.
The video ends with all three youths still in chase, but without them having caught up with Mr Cashford.
Prosecutor Kate Blumgart KC told the court that the girl showed ‘unwavering enthusiasm for the venture’ which could be heard in her ‘shrieks’ as she recorded the attack.
She said the footage was ‘undoubtedly planned to be evidence of their own successful hunt’.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told jurors: ‘The prosecution say the evidence shows the three co-defendants are guilty of murder, not manslaughter.
‘The prosecution case is that all three defendants were acting together, with each of them sharing at least the intent to cause really serious bodily injury to Mr Cashford if the circumstances arose.’
Ms Blumgart previously told the court that one witness later saw the 16-year-old boy throwing rocks towards Mr Cashford, describing the first throw as ‘like a lob’, ‘frantic’ and with ‘a lot of power around it’.
‘Mr Cashford did not react at all, he was lying face down in the mud,’ she added.
Two boys – one in a grey t-shirt and one in a red t-shirt, were seen to chase Mr Cashford down the path
Police search the area around Leysdown-on-Sea, Kent in the aftermath of the incident
The victim was later found dead with multiple injuries.
A post-mortem examination showed he had injuries to his face and head, bruises on his limbs and body, and a number of fractured ribs that had punctured his lung.
A witness on holiday in the area described seeing the 16-year-old boy ‘smirking like he had just won the candy out of the candy shop’ after the fatal assault.
The prosecutor said Mr Cashford had met the girl by chance at an arcade in the seaside resort two days earlier, on Friday, August 8.
He gave her a business card that had his phone number on it.
The 16-year-old boy saved it in his own phone as ‘pedo’ (sic) and over the next two days around 75 messages were exchanged, with Mr Cashford believing he was in talking to a 16-year-old girl called Sienna.
He claimed to be 30, asked her if she liked champagne and said he wanted to kiss her.
‘Sienna’ then suggested they meet at her parents’ empty home and told him to bring alcohol, the jury heard.
Mr Cashford met the 16-year-old girl by the sea wall in Leysdown-on-Sea at around 7pm on August 10, and just over an hour later he was pronounced dead, the court was told.
Ms Blumgart told the court: ‘These three defendants did happen by chance to meet Mr Cashford. What happened thereafter, however, was not by chance.
‘They were so outraged by his interest in “Sienna” that they deliberately planned to attack him.
‘This was a joint attack with each of them playing a vital part.’
It is claimed the two boys followed Mr Cashford and the girl ‘for a considerable distance’ as they walked along the promenade in the village, before the 16-year-old boy caught them up and hit him on the back of the head with a bottle.
The girl allegedly shouted, ‘f****** paedophile, I’m f****** 16, get him’, as she filmed the attack.
Ms Blumgart said: ‘He [the 16-year-old] was later seen by witnesses throwing large rocks at Mr Cashford’s already seemingly lifeless body and head.
‘This at the tail end of a vicious onslaught.’
After he was arrested, prosecutors say the 16-year-old boy shared footage of the attack with three people, adding the caption: ‘f****** pedo (sic) up lol’
The 16-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy are related, the court heard. The three defendants, who are each charged with murder, cannot be named for legal reasons.
The 15-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl both deny murder and manslaughter.
The 16-year-old boy admits manslaughter but denies murder.
The trial continues.
