Three teens on trial for luring man to Kent beach murder

Three teenagers are on trial accused of murdering a 49-year-old man they lured to a beach in Kent after a chance encounter, believing him to be a pedophile, a court has heard.

Alexander Cashford, an electrician from Kent, was found dead with severe head and facial injuries on August 10 last year in Leysdown-on-Sea on the Isle of Sheppey. Prosecutors at Woolwich Crown Court allege that a 16-year-old girl and two boys, aged 15 and 16, enticed him to the seafront under false pretenses before attacking him. The defendants, who cannot be named for legal reasons, each deny one count of murder. The 16-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy are related, according to court proceedings.

The case opened with prosecutor Kate Blumgart KC outlining how the group first met Cashford on August 8 at an amusement arcade in the seaside village. He gave the girl his phone number, which was later saved in the 16-year-old boy's phone under the name "Pedo." Over the next two days, the teenagers exchanged around 75 messages with Cashford using the pseudonym "Sienna," posing as a 16-year-old girl. Cashford, who claimed to be 30 in the messages, discussed meeting for drinks and expressed interest in kissing...