Joshua Askew
Journalist, BBC South East

The three teenagers who killed Alexander Cashford on a beach in Kent have been sentenced.

Justice Cheema-Grubb gave the 16-year-old boy, who previously admitted manslaughter, a seven-year sentence.

The 16-year-old girl, who filmed the attack, also received a sentence of seven years.

And the 15-year-old boy got a five-year sentence.

Both he and the girl were found guilty of manslaughter at Woolwich Crown Court in February.

The three set upon Cashford, believing he was a paedophile after he gave the girl his number in a chance encounter in August 2025.

Cashford, 49, was chased and hit with rocks and a bottle, while the 16-year-old boy kicked him on the ground.

Sara Smith
Reporter, BBC South East

The judge says that the three teenagers will serve half of their sentences in custody, with the rest on licence.

“You are all young and you will still be young when you rejoin society," the judge says.

"You did a terrible thing and are all paying a price for it, but there is great potential for you.”

Hearing her sentence of seven years from the judge, the 16-year-old girl breaks down in tears.

She is heard crying loudly in the court room as she is led away.

The judge gives the 15-year-old boy who killed Alexander Cashford five years.

The judge gives the 16-year-old girl seven years in custody.

The judge has given a 16-year-old boy who killed Alexander Cashford on a beach in Kent a seven-year sentence in custody.

She reduced the sentence because of his guilty plea.

Sara Smith
Reporter, BBC South East

The judge says that there is no other option but to impose a custodial sentence on the three teenagers.

"Custodial sentences for children should always be a last resort. I know as children a custodial sentence will have a greater impact on each of you than an adult who had committed a similar offence," she says.

"However, I’ve come to the conclusion there is no other option than custody in this case."

The judge says that the 15-year-old boy who killed Alexander Cashford should have been able to put a stop to the plan.

"You were described as a healthy, strong and decent child with a positive future ahead,” she says.

"You appear to have all the attributes which should have enabled you to put a stop to the plans.”

She also cites psychological reports showing that he has emotional resilience and a lack of health conditions or vulnerability.

The judge cites character references for the 16-year-old girl who killed Alexander Cashford as "kind, caring and respectful”.

“You are sorry for what you did," the judge says.

“You wish you could go back and change your decisions. I believe you.”

The judge says that friends of the 16-year-old boy who was part of the trio that killed Alexander Cashford described him as a "gentle giant".

But she adds: “I’m not able to accept [a report's] conclusion that your actions were not deliberate.”

Justice Cheema-Grubb says that she has reached sentences for each of the three teenagers on an individual basis.

The judge says that she is prepared to accept that the killing of Alexander Cashford "started as mischief among bored teenagers on holiday".

She adds that they "may well have enjoyed laughing about" exposing the 49-year-old as someone behaving inappropriately to a 16-year-old.

But she adds that it "did not stay this way".

The judge says that their activities became "darker" and turned into "dangerous misconduct that risked and ultimately took a man's life."

The judge says that the five minutes after Alexander Cashford tried to escape the teenagers must have been "terrifying".

She adds that the 49-year-old eventually fell after being attacked and "never got back up".

The judge says that the footage of the attack – recorded by the girl – lasts 31 seconds and is shocking.

The judge says the killing of Alexander Cashford was an "appalling incident and senseless loss of life".

"You decided to attack a man that none of you knew and two of you had never met," she says in her sentencing remarks.

"All he did was give a business card. He did not touch you. You could have thrown it away.

"If you were concerned [about Cashford], you could have turned to all the adults in your life."

The three had arranged to meet Cashford on a beach, believing he was a paedophile, and they then killed him.

Justice Cheema-Grubb has returned to the court after rising to consider what sentence to give the three teenagers who killed Alexander Cashford.

Joshua Askew
Journalist, South East

A witness at the earlier trial recalled seeing the teenagers after they killed Alexander Cashford with rocks and bottles on the beach.

Tony Sluce, who was staying in a chalet in Leysdown-on-Sea, told Woolwich Crown Court during the trial that he had been walking with his wife on the evening the 49-year-old was attacked.

He said that they walked past two teenagers, a boy and a girl.

Sluce told the court that the boy "looked as though he'd been in a fight", as he had "red marks on his face" and "grazing on his knees".

Mobile footage taken by the 16-year-old girl shows Cashford running and falling over as one of the two boys pursues and falls over him.

Sluce told the court that he heard the boy say: "I dropped him. He's on the deck. He was a paedo."

The trio had lured Cashford to the beach as they thought he was a paedophile after he gave the girl his phone number in a chance encounter at an arcade.

Joshua Askew
Journalist, South East

The three teenagers were convicted in February of killing Alexander Cashford on a Kent beach.

Following the weeks-long trial at Woolwich Crown Court, Natalie Smith, from the Crown Prosecution Service, called the attack by the girl, 16, and two boys, aged 15 and 16, "pre-planned, deliberate and violent".

She added at the time that Cashford was "not expecting it" and "could not defend himself".

“He was first hit from behind with a bottle and despite his best attempts to flee, he was relentlessly pursued and attacked, even when witnesses reported he was lying on the ground," said Smith.

“Their joint actions on that fateful evening led to Alexander Cashford’s death," she continued.

"His family now at least have the comfort of knowing that those responsible have been brought to justice.”

Joshua Askew
Journalist, South East

The discovery of Alexander Cashford's lifeless body on a Kent beach in August 2025 sparked a large response from the emergency services. Here are some pictures taken at the time.

Image source, UKNIP

Image source, UKNIP

Image source, UKNIP

Joshua Askew
Journalist, South East

Three teenagers are being sentenced for the manslaughter of Alexander Cashford while they were on holiday.

The two boys and one girl had lured the 49-year-old to a beach in Leysdown-on-Sea, Kent, on 10 August 2025, suspecting he was a paedophile.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) says that some of the key evidence in building this case came from the defendants themselves, with the girl shooting a video of the start of the attack.

It adds that other evidence came from witnesses, some of whom went to Cashford’s aid, while others tracked the group and reported where they were, leading to swift arrests by police.

The witnesses also gave evidence about how the defendants appeared to be gloating after the attack, according to the CPS.

During the trial it was heard that Cashford had more than 30 external injuries on his body.

Charlie Rose
South East home affairs correspondent

Today the sun is shining on Leysdown-on-Sea in conditions not dissimilar to those last August when Alexander Cashford was killed on the seafront.

Here people tell me they remember clearly the day of the horrific attack and the teenagers’ arrest. They say they remain shocked by what happened.

Workers at an amusement arcade, who asked not to be named because of fear of reprisals, tell me they worry the incident last summer may have a negative impact on trade by putting people off from visiting.

But a café owner says she isn’t worried, as she points to her busy tables.

It seems no-one here can forget the incident last summer which continues to cast a shadow over this seaside village 10 months on.