Three teenagers jailed for Alexander Cashford manslaughter

Three teenagers were sentenced to custody over the manslaughter of alexander cashford, who was killed in Leysdown-on-Sea on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent on 10 August last year. A boy and a girl, both 16, each received seven-year sentences, and a 15-year-old boy received five years.

The judge said each of them will serve half of their sentences in custody and the rest on licence. Cashford was 49.

Leysdown-on-Sea sentence

The court heard the teenagers lured Cashford to a beach after they believed he was a paedophile. That belief followed a chance meeting with one of them at an amusement arcade two days earlier.

The judge told them: "All he did was give a business card. He did not touch you. You could have thrown it away". The judge also said, "You are all young and you will still be young when you rejoin society," and "You did a terrible thing and are all paying a price for it, but there is great potential for you."

Cashford family statement

Alexander Cashford's parents said his death was "cruel, unnecessary and pointless" in a statement read on their behalf in court. Witnesses saw the teenagers throwing rocks and kicking Cashford after he was hit over the head with a bottle.

The 16-year-old boy's seven-year sentence was reduced because of his guilty plea. The 16-year-old girl broke down in tears when she heard her sentence.

Custody and licence

The sentence means the three will spend the first half of their terms in custody before serving the rest on licence. For Cashford's family, the court process ended with prison terms already set, not a further hearing over punishment.