Murder-accused boy says attack right thing to do

A 16-year-old boy accused of murder, alongside a 16-year-old girl and a boy, 15, said he thought he had done the right thing by attacking his alleged victim.

The boy previously admitted manslaughter but denies the murder of Alexander Cashford, 49, from Kent, who the three teenagers had accused of being a paedophile.

Earlier, the jury at Woolwich Crown Court was told Cashford had met the girl by chance, given her his phone number and exchanged about 75 messages.

The girl, who the 16-year-old boy said also knew about the plan to attack him, also denies murder, as does the 15-year-old boy.

On Tuesday, a prosecutor asked the 16-year-old boy: "Did you think you had done the right thing?", to which the teenager told replied: "Kind of, yeah."

The teenager told the court he had picked up a bottle after making a plan with his 15-year-old co-defendant to "hit" the victim, who was found with multiple injuries in Leysdown-on-Sea, on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent in August.

The court previously heard Cashford met the girl by chance on 8 August, gave her his phone number and exchanged about 75 messages, believing he was talking to a girl named Sienna.

Cashford met the girl two days later, when he was attacked with rocks and a bottle, and accused of being a paedophile, the jury was told.

The court has been shown a video where Cashford is seen being hit over the head with a bottle and chased while voices scream that he is a paedophile.

The 16-year-old boy told the court on Tuesday he thought "the police wouldn't have done anything about Cashford" so instead he "hit him".

Prosecutor Kate Blumgart KC asked the 16-year-old male defendant: "You wanted to hurt him with that bottle, didn't you?"

He replied: "Yes."

Blumgart said: "What did you think would happen if you hit someone on the head with a bottle?"

The defendant replied: "It would give him a bump on the head."

The prosecutor asked if he thought that might give the victim a serious injury, to which the boy said: "No."

The teenager told the court that he and his co-defendants planned for the girl to walk with Cashford, then he and the other boy would hit the man.

Blumgart said: "If you just wanted to hit him why did you pick up the bottle?"

"I don't know," the defendant replied.

The teenager said he then chased Cashford and threw a rock at him "because he was too far away for me to get him", but he could not remember whether he threw more rocks when the 49-year-old was on the ground.

The defendant told the court he pushed Cashford down a bank.

He said: "I know I kicked him in the ribs but I didn't kick him with everything I had.

"I wasn't motivated to kick him that hard. At that point I wasn't very angry."

Blumgart asked him if he mean to hurt Cashford until he couldn't react and defend himself, and if he thought to see if the victim was okay.

To both questions, the 16-year-old said: "No."

The three defendants cannot be named because of their age.

The trial continues.

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