4 hours ago
3
Joshua Askew,South Eastand Adina Campbell,UK correspondent
Kent Police
All three teenagers denied the murder of Alexander Cashford, 49, in Kent
Two teenagers have been found guilty of manslaughter after luring a man they thought was a paedophile to a beach where another teenager threw rocks at him.
A 16-year-old girl and two boys, 15 and 16, all denied murdering Alexander Cashford in Leysdown-on-Sea, on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, on 10 August last year.
The 16-year-old boy previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Woolwich Crown Court was told the teenagers believed Cashford, 49, was a paedophile after he met the girl by chance at an amusement arcade two days earlier and gave her his phone number.
Using the alias Sienna, the three teenagers had messaged Cashford and arranged to meet him by the sea wall.
Danny Robinson KC, defending the girl, told the court the texts started as a "big laugh" but might have become a wish to name-and-shame Cashford.
"It was a childish escapade that got out of hand very quickly with tragic consequences," he said.
Footage shows the moment Alexander Cashford was attacked on the beach
Prosecutors said Cashford was chased and hit with rocks and a bottle before he was found lying face down in the mud.
A post-mortem examination showed injuries to his face and head, bruises on his limbs and body, alongside a number of fractured ribs that had punctured his lung.
The 16-year-old boy had earlier told the court how he and the others had discussed giving Cashford a "slap" before the attack.
He claimed he attacked Cashford because he thought police "wouldn't have done anything" if they had reported the man for trying to meet up with the girl.
The girl filmed the boys chasing Cashford as she shouted "get him", the court heard.
After he was arrested, the 16-year-old boy shared footage of the attack with three people.
"This was a carefully pre-planned deliberate and violent attack on someone who was not expecting it and who could not defend himself," said Natalie Smith, senior crown prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service.
"Despite his best attempts to flee, he was relentlessly pursued and attacked, even when witnesses reported he was lying on the ground."
The three teenagers – who cannot be named for legal reasons – were acquitted of murder on Monday.
They are expected to be sentenced for manslaughter in April.
"These verdicts will change their lives forever," said the judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb.
