A 16-year-old boy has been found guilty of murdering 16-year-old Joshua Ingram in a knife attack at Seaford railway station in East Sussex, over a £20 drug debt.
Attack details
The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted on Wednesday at Hove Crown Court. He had pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of manslaughter but was found guilty of murder.
The prosecution said the teenager was a "small-time drug dealer" who had supplied Joshua with drugs in the summer of 2025 but had not been paid. On the day of the attack, he went to Seaford with a 19cm-long knife hidden in his tracksuit bottoms and stabbed Joshua twice.
Prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC said: "Joshua stood no chance. The speed of the attack from behind gave him no chance to defend himself and the injury he sustained was so serious that he could not survive."
Snapchat messages
In a Snapchat message sent before the attack, the defendant wrote: "Josh will perish if I don’t get my f****** money, that’s a fact and he knows this. I'm ready to sit in a prison cell for 30 years over a £20 sheet."
The court heard the teenager had owned the knife since Year 9 and would "wave it around and playfully intimidate" others with it at his house. He told jurors he viewed the knife as an "accessory" and never intended to kill or seriously harm Joshua.
Other defendants
Two other boys, aged 17 and 15, were also on trial accused of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent. Jurors found all three not guilty of that charge. The 15-year-old was found guilty of assisting an offender, and the 17-year-old had already pleaded guilty to the same charge.
Witness account
Joshua's friend, who was with him when he was stabbed, described the attack: "He had no hesitation - he had a very still facial expression, he wasn’t pulling a face, he didn’t look like he had anger in him. He looked very calm and just normal, but then just did that."
Joshua suffered a 15cm-deep stab wound and died within an hour, before he could be taken to hospital. His family described him as a "cheeky chappie who was loved by many" and who was taken "far too soon".
The defendants will be sentenced on October 2.
