A 16-year-old boy has today pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Alexander Cashford on a Sheppey beach.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, now accepts responsibility for the death of the 49-year-old electrician but continues to deny the more serious charge of murder.
He is currently on trial at Woolwich Crown Court with a 16-year-old girl and a second boy aged 15 also accused of Mr Cashford’s murder in Leysdown on August 10 last year.
It was during proceedings this morning that all three were arraigned on a charge of manslaughter, to which the female defendant and the youngest teen pleaded not guilty.
None of the youths can be identified due to being under 18.
On what is the third day of the trial, jurors heard evidence from DS Alistair Worton from Kent Police who gave evidence on CCTV that had been collected during the force’s investigation.
Prosecutor Kate Blumgart KC told the court the trio lured Mr Cashford to the Warden Bay Road area under the pretence that he was meeting a 16-year-old girl named “Sienna” before “chasing” and attacking him.
Previously, the court heard how the girl had met the 49-year-old “by chance” at Playtime Arcade on The Promenade on August 8, and he gave her his business card.
DS Worton showed the jury a compilation of stills and videos depicting the movements of the three defendants and Mr Cashford on that day.
A clip was played showing the moment the victim and the 16-year-old girl meet for the first time inside Playtime Amusements on The Promenade.
It showed the defendant sitting at a set of machines with another girl when Mr Cashford entered the arcade and walked towards them, before sitting on the chair between them.
They sit together for a few minutes, and then he hands her an item, which the court was previously told was his business card.
The younger boy is then seen arriving, and shortly afterwards, Mr Cashford leaves the amusement centre and drives away.
The youngsters stay in the arcade after his departure, before leaving themselves and meeting up with the other defendant at the seafront.
Over the next two days, the group used one of the boys’ phones to exchange around 75 messages with the victim, who believed he was speaking to a 16-year-old called “Sienna”.
Three teenagers are on trial at Woolwich Crown Court. Picture: Eastern Region Special Operations Unit/PA
He arranged to see her by the seafront on August 10, and Ms Blumgart said just over an hour after that meeting took place, Mr Cashford was dead.
DS Worton talked the jury through still images from CCTV on that day.
He explained that Mr Cashford’s silver vehicle was captured in the Warden Bay pub car park at around 6.40pm. He then walked towards The Promenade.
The court heard that he messaged “Sienna”, saying: “I am in Warden by the beach. LOL x”.
The group then replied, saying they could meet him, before the girl took a call from Mr Cashford, lasting less than a minute.
DS Worton told the court the trio then started walking towards the meeting point, and the two boys are seen to “touch fists”.
He added that CCTV captured Mr Cashford and the girl meeting before they started to walk along the footpath by the seawall just over a minute later.
He said that the pair were being followed by the two other defendants, for about 850m, just before 7pm, while the older boy carried a glass bottle.
Ten minutes after the meeting, a video was recorded showing Mr Cashford being hit over the head with the bottle
The female defendant is also heard in the footage shouting “f***ing paedophile” and “get him, f***ing nonce”, while he was “chased” by the other two.
Alexander Cashford died on August 10 last year
Later on, eyewitnesses are said to have seen Mr Cashford lying in the mud while the 16-year-old boy allegedly threw rocks at his head and stomach.
Ms Blumgart claims that it was a “joint attack” on Mr Cashford, with each of the teenagers playing a “vital part” in it.
The six-week trial presided over by High Court Judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, continues.