A man was lured to a beach by three teenagers who stoned him to death calling him a ‘f***ing paedo’, a court has heard.
Alexander Cashford, 49, met his three alleged killers – a 16-year-old girl and two boys aged 15 and 16 – ‘quite by chance’ in Leysdown-on-Sea, on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, on August 8 last year.
He gave the girl his number and the teenagers then sent him messages using the fake name ‘Sienna’, eventually arranging to meet him by the sea wall on August 10, jurors were told today.
Opening the prosecution case, Kate Blumgart KC told jurors at Woolwich Crown Court: ‘Mr Cashford was pronounced dead 68 minutes after he had met up with the group.’
The 16-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy are related, the court heard. The three defendants, who are each charged with murder, cannot be named for legal reasons.
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Ms Blumgart told jurors: ‘[The 15 year old boy and 16 year old girl] met Mr Cashford quite by chance on August 8, so two days before the attack.
‘He gave [the girl] his telephone number, and the group began to contact him through [the 16 year old boy’s] mobile telephone over the following two days between August 8 and 10.
‘They – the children involved – used a fake name. The name they used was Sienna. They made a plan for Sienna to meet up with Mr Cashford on August 10 last year down by the beach wall.’
Jurors heard Mr Cashford was dead just over an hour after he arrived there.
Witnesses described the 16-year-old boy throwing rocks at Mr Cashford and calling him ‘a paedo’.
Ms Blumgart told jurors one witness saw the 16-year-old boy throwing rocks towards Mr Cashford, describing the first throw as ‘like a lob’, ‘frantic’ and with ‘a lot of power around it’.
‘Mr Cashford did not react at all, he was lying face down in the mud,’ Ms Blumgart said.
She said another witness shouted at the youths ‘What the f*** are you doing?’ after seeing a large rock being ‘bounced’ off Mr Cashford’s head.
Jurors heard the 16-year-old boy shouted back that ‘he’s a f****** paedophile’ and the 16-year-old girl also said ‘he’s a f****** paedo’, jurors were told.
One of the witnesses described the rocks as being ‘around the size of a cereal bowl, both were jagged’.
Kent Police was called to the Warden Bay Road area of Leysdown-on-Sea after reports of an altercation on August 10.
Mr Cashford was confirmed dead at the scene, and police said he had multiple injuries to his body.
Witnesses said Mr Cashford had ‘a very badly damaged nose’, with blood on the outside and ‘a ping pong ball sized lump’ on the back of his head, the court heard.
The three defendants each deny one count of murder and the trial continues.
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