Alexander Cashford death: Two teenagers guilty of killing man they thought was a peadophile after luring him to beach
Two teenagers were found guilty of murdering a man they thought was a pedophile.
The pair pulled Alexander Cashford, 49, onto the beach before another teenager threw rocks at him.
A 16-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy were found guilty of the manslaughter of Mr Cashford at Leysdown-on-Sea on Kent’s Isle of Sheppey on August 10 last year.
A 16-year-old boy previously pleaded guilty to a second charge of manslaughter.
They were on trial at Woolwich Crown Court accused of murdering Mr Cashford, but all three teenagers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were acquitted of murder on Monday.
The jury, consisting of six men and six women, found the 16-year-old girl and the 15-year-old boy guilty of second-degree manslaughter.
Jurors were previously told Mr Cashford gave the girl his number after a chance encounter at an entertainment venue on August 8 and also gave her a business card with a name on it that was not his.
The three teenagers messaged Mr Cashford using the pseudonym ‘Sienna’ and arranged to meet him by the seawall.
During the hearing, it was learned that the 16-year-old boy saved Mr. Cashford’s number as “pedo” on his phone and around 75 messages were sent between them.
The man, who claimed to be 30 years old, asked the girl if she liked champagne and said he wanted to kiss her. ‘Sienna’ suggested meeting at her family’s empty house and told her to bring alcohol.
During his evidence the older boy was asked whether he thought he “did the right thing” by attacking him in the immediate aftermath of the incident – before they were arrested or before it was revealed that Mr Cashford was dead.
The defendant replied: “Yes, in a way yes.”
When asked why, he said: “Because I don’t think the police will do anything.”
Danny Robinson KC, defending the girl, told the hearing that 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”.
But he said the attack “was not the product of an organized plan to kill or cause really serious harm to someone, but was a childish escapade that very quickly spiraled out of control and led to tragic consequences.”
The court heard the girl and the teenage boy defendant said there was never a plan to hit Mr Cashford.
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.
Mr Cashford met the 16-year-old female defendant on Leysdown-on-Sea beach at around 7pm on August 10 and was pronounced dead just over an hour later, the court heard.
Prosecutors say Mr. Cashford was chased, hit with a rock and a bottle and found lying face down in mud.
The hearing heard the two boys followed Mr Cashford and the girl as they walked along the promenade in the Isle of Sheppey village before the attack began.
The girl shouted “fuck pedophile, I’m 16, get him” as she filmed the boys chasing Mr Cashford.
It was heard at the hearing that after the 16-year-old boy was arrested, he shared the images of the attack with three people with the caption “fuck you pedo (sic) hahaha”.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb requested pre-sentence reports and statements from the parents or carers of the three defendants.
He thanked jurors for their service and added: “A man named Alexander Cashford is dead and we keep that tragedy in our minds.”
The judge said about the defendants, “These decisions will change their lives forever.”
The young people will be sentenced at a later date, expected to be in April.
