Moment teenager launches bottle attack on ‘paedophile’ is shown to murder jury after 49-year-old ‘was lured to meeting with girl, 16, and beaten to death with rocks’
The moment a young man attacked a man, who was branded a pedophile and beaten to death with stones, with a bottle was seen in court.
Three teenagers, a 16-year-old girl and two boys aged 15 and 16, are accused of murdering Alexander Cashford, 49, after allegedly luring him into meeting the girl on the Isle of Sheppey last August.
While all three boys, who came to the seaside resort from London for holiday, denied the murder charges against them, the 16-year-old boy today pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter.
The jury at Woolwich Crown Court was shown footage taken by the girl on the evening Mr Cashford died in Leysdown-on-Sea, Kent, on August 10, 2025.
The 16-year-old, wearing a gray T-shirt, is seen hitting Mr Cashford on the back of the head with a glass bottle, prompting him to flee along the beachside promenade.
A 16-year-old boy and another boy wearing a red T-shirt follow him.
The court heard yesterday that one of the boys shouted ‘You’re a paedo’ at Mr Cashford, who ran away.
Running at full speed, the 49-year-old man stumbles and falls to the ground as the boy in red falls on him before he gets up.
Video watched by the jury showed one of the boys hitting Mr Cashford in the back of the head with a glass bottle.
Mr Cashford then flees along the seaside promenade in pursuit of the young men.
Alexander Cashford, 49, was beaten to death with stones at Leysdown-on-Sea on the Isle of Sheppey on 10 August 2025.
Mr. Cashford is off again and the boy in the gray shirt looks like he’s trying to kick up his heels.
The video ends with all three teenagers still giving chase, but before they can catch up with Mr Cashford.
Prosecutor Kate Blumgart KC told the court the girl showed ‘an unwavering enthusiasm for the enterprise’ which could be heard in her ‘screams’ as she recorded the attack.
He said the footage was ‘undoubtedly intended as evidence of their own successful hunt’.
Ms Blumgart had previously told the court that a witness later saw the 16-year-old throw a stone at Mr Cashford, describing the first throw as “lob-like”, “frantic” and with “a lot of force around him”.
‘Mr Cashford did not react at all, lying face down in the mud,’ he added.
The prosecutor said Mr Cashford had met the girl by chance two days earlier, on Friday, August 8, at an arcade in the seaside resort.
He gave her a business card with a phone number on it.
Two boys, one in a gray T-shirt and the other in a red T-shirt, were seen chasing Mr Cashford down the road.
Police searched the area around Leysdown-on-Sea, Kent, following the incident.
The 16-year-old saved the message as “pedo” (sic) on his own phone, and over the next two days around 75 messages were exchanged in which Mr Cashford believed he was talking to a 16-year-old girl called Sienna.
He claimed he was 30, asked if she liked champagne, and said he wanted to kiss her.
The jury heard ‘Sienna’ then suggested meeting at her parents’ empty house and told her to bring him alcohol.
Mr Cashford met the 16-year-old girl by the seawall in Leysdown-on-Sea at around 7pm on August 10 and she was pronounced dead just over an hour later, the court heard.
Miss Blumgart told the court: ‘These three defendants met Mr Cashford by chance. However, what happened next was not a coincidence.
‘They were so enraged by his attention to Sienna that they deliberately planned to attack her.
‘This was a joint attack in which each played a vital role.’
The two boys allegedly followed Mr Cashford and the girl for a “significant distance” as they walked along the village promenade, before hitting the 16-year-old in the back of the head with a bottle.
Miss Blumgart said: ‘He was later seen by witnesses throwing large stones at Mr Cashford’s already lifeless body and head.
‘This is the culmination of a violent attack.’
While the girl was allegedly filming the attack, she shouted, “Damn pedophile, I’m 16, catch him,” while eyewitnesses described the 16-year-old boy throwing stones at Mr. Cashford.
After his arrest, prosecutors said the 16-year-old shared footage of the attack with three people and added the caption: “fuck you pedo (sic) hahaha”
The autopsy showed that he had wounds on his face and head, bruises on his limbs and body, and many broken ribs that pierced his lung.
The court heard the 16-year-old girl and the 15-year-old boy were related. The three defendants, each accused of murder, cannot be named for legal reasons.
The 15-year-old boy and the 16-year-old girl deny murder and manslaughter.
The 16-year-old boy admits manslaughter but denies murder.
The trial continues.
