Moment three teenagers lured man, 49, to beach before beating him to death with rocks while screaming ‘paedo’

Three young people who stoned a 49-year-old man to death after chasing him by the seaside while shouting “paedo” are at risk of going to prison.

After Alexander Cashford was punched, kicked and beaten to death, two young people, a girl and a boy, were found guilty of manslaughter. A second juvenile has already pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

The barbaric attack was filmed by the 16-year-old girl, who Mr Cashford first approached at an entertainment hall in Leysdown-on-Sea, Essex, on August 8 last year.

The girl and two of her friends, then aged 14 and 15 but now a year older, saved Mr Cashford’s number as ‘pedo’ in the older boy’s phone. The names of the murderers cannot be determined due to their ages.

Mr Cashford claimed to be 30 years old and believed he was meeting a 16-year-old girl named Sienna; he had spent the last 48 hours sending numerous messages to what he thought was her phone, telling her she was beautiful and asking if she liked champagne.

But the boys ambushed Mr Cashford minutes after he and the girl began walking along the promenade; The girl screamed in encouragement as the older boy picked up an empty glass bottle and hit his victim on the head.

The older boy said he initially only intended to ‘hit’ Mr Cashford because he felt it was ‘wrong’ for him to ‘try to be with a 16-year-old’.

Police believe Mr Cashford asked for the meeting to be held earlier on Sunday rather than later because he was on tag for a stalking offense and was required to be at home that evening as part of his license conditions.

Jurors at Woolwich Crown Court found the trio, who were all on holiday with their families, not guilty of murder. They will be sentenced at a later date.

He was pronounced dead at the scene

Harrowing footage taken during the hearing showed the moment the older boy began attacking Mr Cashford, who was unaware he was being followed as he walked with the girl.

Mr Cashford ran away with the two boys in pursuit, but then fell to the ground.

He stood up and started running again, with the older boy chasing after him. When Mr. Cashford reached the rocky ground, he stumbled again.

Witnesses said they saw the older boy throw a rock or rock at Mr Cashford as he lay face down again.

In the footage taken by the girl and the older boy’s mobile phone, the woman was heard shouting ‘fuck pedophilia, I’m 16, fuck’ and ‘get him’.

The group then abandoned Mr Cashford and casually wandered back into town.

The autopsy showed Mr Cashford had injuries to his face and head, bruising to his limbs and body, and multiple broken ribs that 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 about half an hour after a quick-thinking bystander secretly followed the group and helped direct police to their location.

The court heard the older boy expressed surprise at being arrested on suspicion of murder and told officers: ‘I’m a big man. If I wanted to kill him I would have done so.’

Mr Cashford, 49, was attacked with a bottle – the girl who recorded the attack on her mobile phone

His body was also kicked

The boy told jurors: ‘I was surprised. The way I see it, I didn’t do enough damage.’

He admitted manslaughter but denied murder.

The girl and the little boy denied the allegations of manslaughter.

The girl refused to give evidence and her barrister Danny Robinson KC told jurors: ‘The plan was to slap Mr Cashford.’

The little boy said he was unaware of the attack plan but went there for the girl’s safety.

“I didn’t want him to think he could get away with meeting young girls,” the boy told the court.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil Kimber, of Kent Police, described the ‘frightening’ way the boys filmed the incident and then uploaded it almost immediately to social media.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘Whilst the nature of the attack is quite worrying, what is even more worrying is the manner in which such young people could do this to a 49-year-old.

‘Some people at a younger age say: Why are you using social media as a platform to promote this kind of thing?

‘It’s actually quite worrying that people that age would do that.’

The court heard Mr Cashford showered the girl with compliments, saying: “I’d really like to kiss you.”

They then decided to meet on Sunday at 18.45; this was earlier than ‘Sienna’ had suggested after Mr Cashford told her he was ‘working nights’.

In reality, police believe Mr Cashford asked for the meeting to take place earlier rather than later because he was under surveillance for stalking and was required to be at home that evening as part of his license conditions.

Mr Kimber said: ‘He wanted to meet in the afternoon, he couldn’t really meet in the evening because he had somewhere to be.’

He said although the girl initially told police she wanted to ‘expose’ Mr Cashford, there was no evidence the group was part of a so-called ‘paedo hunting’ vigilante group.

Mr Kimber said: ‘Whatever people’s views, there was nothing illegal about his actions, he certainly did not do anything illegal.

‘We are handling the incident according to the evidence and the legal situation. In fact, this is not a moral judgment, but an evidentiary judgment.’

Senior prosecutor Natalie Smith, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: ‘This was a carefully planned, deliberate and violent attack on someone who was not expecting and could not defend himself.

‘He was first struck from behind with a bottle and, despite his best efforts to escape, he was relentlessly pursued and attacked, even when witnesses reported him lying on the ground.

‘Immediately after the group met Mr Cashford and obtained his mobile phone number they sent him messages and attempted to make arrangements to meet him after dark. They tricked him into meeting the girl, but she wasn’t the only one waiting to meet him. All three defendants were ready, knowing their plan was to attack Mr Cashford.

‘As he walked away Mr Cashford had no idea there was a plan to attack him.

‘Their collective actions on that fateful evening led to the death of Alexander Cashford. His family now has the comfort of knowing that at least those responsible have been brought to justice.’