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Three teenagers have been sentenced for the fatal assault of Alexander Cashford on a beach in Leysdown-on-Sea, Kent. The 16-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy each received seven-year custodial sentences for manslaughter, while a 15-year-old boy was handed a five-year sentence. An earlier guilty plea to manslaughter had been entered by the older boy.
The court heard that the group had lured 49-year-old Cashford to the beach after he gave his phone number to the girl during a chance encounter at an arcade two days earlier. Justice Cheema-Grubb, who presided over the case at the Old Bailey, described the killing as an “appalling incident and senseless loss of life.” She criticized the teenagers for attacking a man whom they barely knew, emphasizing: “All he did was give a business card. He did not touch you. You could have thrown it away.” The defendants will each serve half of their sentence in custody and the remaining half on licence.
Prosecutors revealed how Cashford was chased and assaulted with rocks and a bottle, ultimately found lying face down in the mud. Natalie Smith from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) described the attack as a “carefully pre-planned deliberate and violent attack on someone… who could not defend himself.” Despite Cashford’s attempts to escape, he was relentlessly pursued and beaten, even after witnesses saw him on the ground. His parents spoke during sentencing, expressing their heartbreak over the loss of their “kind, friendly and compassionate” son and called the killing “cruel, unnecessary and pointless.”
During the trial, defense lawyers provided context around the teenagers involved. Danny Robinson KC, representing the girl, said the initial contact between the group and Cashford began as a “laugh” but escalated into a misguided plan that spun out of control, calling it a “childish escapade that got out of hand.” The 16-year-old boy with autism and ADHD was described by his legal team as someone who had “no history of violence” and came from a challenging background. Another defense lawyer noted that the youngest boy, 14 at the time of the attack, had played only a minor role and was not involved in the throwing of objects during the assault. Key evidence included video footage recorded by the girl showing the attack, and witness testimonies that helped police swiftly apprehend the teenagers following the incident. Det Sgt Alastair Worton highlighted the tragic results of the attack, stating, “Alexander Cashford’s life was cut short following a vicious attack carried out by a group of teenagers who plotted to meet him under false pretences.”
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