Man who stabbed stepdaughter and her husband to death then took their children to McDonald’s is jailed for at least 29 years

A grandfather who stabbed his stepdaughter and her husband to death over money before taking his children to McDonald’s was sentenced to at least 29 years in prison.

Derek Martin, 67, went ‘crazy’ after attacking his stepdaughter Chloe Bashford, 30, in her own home following an argument over money.

He grabbed a hammer and bludgeoned her several times to the head, then took a kitchen knife and stabbed the mother-of-four eight times as she lay on the floor.

Martin then waited for her husband Josh, 33, to return home for lunch, then chased him upstairs and stabbed him four times and strangled him with a belt.

The grandfather tried to clean up the bloody massacre before calmly collecting his four children from school.

He dropped them off at their grandmother’s house and took them to eat at McDonald’s before turning them over to the police.

Police body camera footage showed the moment he walked into Brighton police station and made a chilling confession: ‘I killed two people.’

Although he admitted killing the couple, he claimed he was suffering from a serious mental disorder at the time and denied killing them.

He beat Chloe Bashford, pictured right, with a hammer and stabbed her multiple times before stabbing her husband Josh Bashford, pictured left, four times and strangling him to death.

But the jury rejected his defense and convicted Martin, of Moulsecoomb, Brighton, of both murder charges at Brighton Law Courts.

Today, he was sentenced to at least 29 years in prison, excluding the 878 days he spent in detention.

The court heard Josh and Chloe’s families were ‘destroyed’ by the shocking murders.

Josh and Chloe’s son Brooklyn Bashford, now 18, told the court in an impact statement: ‘He spoke on behalf of his family and siblings when he said their lives had been ‘changed forever’ as a result of the murders.

He said: ‘The tragic loss of our parents has torn our worlds apart. They were our foundation.’

He said their ‘shocking’ sudden deaths changed everything for him and his brothers and sisters.

He said he couldn’t think about it without imagining the terrible things that happened to his parents.

‘Everything that was once normal and routine, like birthdays, Christmas and holidays, are now just reminders. It tore this whole family apart. We will always remember Mum and Dad.’

He said he was ‘confused’ how a man he thought loved them could commit such a horrific crime.

Billy Bashford, Josh’s brother and a serving police officer, said in an impact statement: ‘This leaves me heartbroken and confused. My life has been ruined in so many different ways. Josh was everything to me. He was my best friend. It was my world.

Ms Bashford, right, can be seen in a clip played to jurors with Martin, right, heading to a steakhouse in Peacehaven, East Sussex, just hours before the attack.

Police body camera footage shows the moment he walked into Brighton police station and made a chilling confession: ‘I killed two people’

He said that his first thought when he woke up, and his last thought before falling asleep, were the brutal murders of Josh and Chloe.

‘Sometimes I lie awake and think about Josh and Chloe. They were very lovely people. I’m completely broken. Every part of me as a person has changed.’

He said he was once a talkative and outgoing person but now suffers from ‘anxiety and depression’.

He said: ‘I can’t see the happiness in life anymore. ‘I’m always angry and resentful.’

The court heard Martin was previously married to Chloe’s mother, Elaine Sturges, but they separated and divorced before Chloe was born.

But after serving time in prison for theft, Martin had apparently turned over a new leaf and re-established a close bond with the family.

She loved helping out with chores, DIYs and decorating around Chloe’s home in Newhaven, East Sussex.

Brighton Law Courts heard Martin lent Chloe around £1,500 to help her and Josh buy a new car and carry out home renovations.

He was supposed to pay her back monthly but was behind on payments.

On the morning of June 9, Martin dropped his two youngest children, Josh Jnr, 4, and Mila, 7, off at school before taking Chloe to breakfast at a steakhouse near his home.

The jury heard the couple arrived at Sainbury’s, returned home and Martin began doing some DIY work around the house, including cleaning some windows.

While he was working he and Chloe got into an argument about money he owed her, with Martin shouting: ‘I want my bloody money’.

The court heard Chloe responded: ‘Don’t bother with us anymore. Don’t bother coming anymore.’

Martin told police he saw red and “lost it,” grabbed a hammer from his tools and clubbed him in the head.

When she fell to the floor, he went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and stabbed her eight times, causing fatal injuries.

Martin knew her husband would be back at lunch because he needed to take her to see a car for sale.

Martin, photographed outside the court in 2023, attempted to clean up the bloody massacre before calmly collecting the couple’s four children from school and taking them to a McDonald’s.

She was lying in wait and was waiting behind the front door with a knife in her hand when Josh entered the house.

The jury heard Josh shout: ‘Where’s Chloe?’ Martin stabbed her four times in the chest before following her upstairs and into the marriage suite. He then grabbed the belt and strangled her to death.

Prosecutor Julian Evans KC said: ‘Chloe and Joshua were repeatedly attacked and murdered. Both attacks took place at home addresses.

‘Chloe was attacked first. Chloe and Derek Martin were at home together when they were attacked. Josh wasn’t there. He was about to arrive home.

‘He attacked Chloe with a hammer. He hit him on the head with a hammer. He then went to the kitchen to get a large knife. After doing this he stabbed Chloe multiple times with that knife causing serious injuries which led to her death.

‘He stabbed her eight times in her upper back and stomach. There were two stab wounds to a depth of approximately 20 cm. The knife caused severe injuries from which Chloe died.

‘A few minutes later, around 12:20pm, Josh arrived home. ‘Immediately after she entered the house Derek Martin attacked her.’

Mr Evans told the court he chased Josh up the stairs into his military bedroom and attacked him with a knife, stabbing him four times in the front of his body before tying him up and strangling him.

In the footage, the killer is seen wearing blue shorts and standing next to the couple’s children while ordering food from a digital screen at a McDonald’s.

It had previously been heard that Ms Bashford was first attacked with a hammer and then stabbed by Martin. Photographed here with her husband

‘During the attack, Derek Martin stabbed Josh multiple times and pinned his neck with a ligature, causing injuries from which he also died.’

Martin picked up the two youngest children from school and arranged to meet the others at Costa Coffee in Newhaven.

He then took the children, Brooklyn, 16, Ava, 11, Mila, 7, and Josh, 4, to a McDonald’s restaurant and bought them meals before loading them into his car and driving them eight miles to their grandmother’s house in Brighton.

He later sent a text message to Miss Sturges, saying: ‘Elaine, I’m so sorry, I can’t believe what I did, I know everyone hates me anyway, especially men, I still hate myself and please, please take really good care of the children.

‘I’m just about to walk into the police station then that’s my days done and I’ve done a good job I know it wouldn’t mean anything but I’m so sorry don’t take the kids home x.’

Martin went to Brighton police station and told officers: ‘I killed two people.’

The jury heard that Martin, who had a history of depression and suicide attempts in the months before the murders, had stopped taking his medication and was not sleeping.

She would stay awake and sleep only an hour or two at night before going to help at her stepdaughter’s house.

Three psychiatric experts said Martin may have suffered from a depressive disorder, which may have affected his ability to make rational decisions and/or exercise self-control.

But psychiatric consultant Professor Nigel Blackwood told the court ‘anger and resentment’ drove Martin to kill the married couple, saying: ‘His ability to understand or exercise self-control was intact’.

Graham Trembath KC, defending in mitigation, said Martin realized he was going to die in prison and that was something that needed to be achieved when he apologized for his actions that day in June 2023.

Sentencing Martin to a minimum of 29 years behind bars, Judge Justine Thornton KC said: ‘Your attacks were motivated by anger and resentment. The murders caused deep sadness in the families. They will suffer for the rest of their lives as a result of your actions.’

He said that the court took into account the 878 days he spent in detention and that he would serve a sentence of 26 years, 7 months and 7 days.