One of the teenagers accused of killing a 49-year-old was heard shouting “you’re a paedo” while chasing him along a beach, a court was told.
Minster-born Alexander Cashford died in the early evening of Sunday, August 10, 2025, at the Warden Bay Road area of Leysdown, on Sheppey.
Three teenagers, a 16-year-old girl and two boys, now aged 15 and 16, have been accused of his murder, but all have denied the charges against them in relation to his death.
It is alleged that the three youths, none of whom can be identified due to being under 18, murdered Mr Cashford during an altercation.
Opening the prosecution’s case this afternoon, Kate Blumgart KC, told the court that the three teenagers, were all from London.
She said that the 16-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy met Mr Cashford “by chance” on August 8, and he gave the girl his phone number.
The group allegedly began contacting him using the 16-year-old boy’s phone under the fake name “Sienna” over the next two days.
Ms Blumgart added: “They made a plan for Sienna to meet up with Mr Cashford on August 10 of last year, down by the beach wall.
“Mr Cashford was pronounced dead 68 minutes after he had met up with the group.”
She went on to tell the jury how several eyewitnesses who were walking along the seafront saw the three youngsters and Mr Cashford, who had worked as an electrician, on the beach.
Ms Blumgart said dog walker, Ewelina Wypch, allegedly saw Mr Cashford and the two boys “running” and it looked like they were “chasing each other” before she heard the victim “shout for help”.
The court was told the elder boy reportedly continued to chase Mr Cashford and was saying: “You are a paedo. She was only 16.”
Ms Blumgart then told the jury how another group of passersby also saw Mr Cashford on the beach, but he was reportedly lying “face down in the mud”.
She claimed that the eldest boy was said to be standing over him, throwing rocks at his head and stomach.
One person, she explained, also said they saw a “cricket ball-sized block” being hurled at Mr Cashford, who lived in Moor Street, Rainham.
The prosecutor said that when questioned and told to stop, the boy said: “He is a f***ing paedophile.”
Ms Blumgart said the walkers saw Mr Cashford struggling to breathe and that he was not reacting when he was allegedly being attacked.
She also told the court that the witnesses described seeing a lump on the victim’s head the size of a “ping pong ball”, and they called the police and an ambulance before starting CPR.
Ms Blumgart will continue to open her case tomorrow (January 14).
Their trial started this afternoon (January 13) at Woolwich Crown Court in south-east London, presided over by High Court Judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb.
The jury of seven men and seven women was sworn in, but the court was told that only 12 of them would hear evidence.
Due to the defendants’ ages, they will not be made to sit in the dock, but instead will be seated in the court well next to their barristers and intermediaries.
Court staff will also not wear wigs or gowns during the proceedings.
The trial, which is expected to last six weeks, continues.
