A 17-year-old boy told his friend he would 'happily do 20 to life' before stabbing and slashing him during a horrific seven-hour ordeal. Kai Ashcroft also whipped his victim with a belt and forced him to take hallucinogenic drugs as he held him hostage and threatened to 'cut him up.' The teenager blamed the other teen over an incident a decade earlier that he claimed 'ruined his life.'
While being arrested, he alarmingly confessed to police he planned to 'hunt him down' and 'execute' him in a manner which he said would be 'bloody as f***.' Liverpool Crown Court heard on Thursday that Ashcroft and Harry Bradshaw had been friends between the ages of four and 10 before they split off and went to different schools.
But they resumed contact in the months leading up to December 2025 after messaging via Instagram, leading to the pair frequently meeting up. Prosecutor Daniel Bramhall detailed how Ashcroft, then 17 but now 18, and 18-year-old Mr Bradshaw were together at the former's home in Litherland, Merseyside, on the evening of December 27 last year.
They had been taking cocaine before the 'atmosphere shifted' and later involved the defendant 'becoming paranoid' at around 1am, asking his friend 'who had sent him to his address.' Mr Bradshaw responded by 'asking him what was going on in his head', at which stage Ashcroft 'brought up an issue which took place when the pair were younger'. The complainant however stated he did not remember the incident in question, leading to an argument erupting between the two.
Ashcroft then became 'increasingly aggressive,' 'blaming Mr Bradshaw for ruining his life' and telling him that he 'owed him his life.' He went on to demand his victim 'admitted it,' although he pleaded that he 'wasn't admitting anything that wasn't true.' Ashcroft started punching and kicking Mr Bradshaw before arming himself with a kitchen knife, waving the weapon around and again urging him to confess. He went on to state he'd 'happily do 20 years to life for a scruffy c*** like you' and added: 'I have nothing left.'
Ashcroft started to record Mr Bradshaw, demanded £200 before repeatedly 'poking and slashing' the complainant with the knife, leaving him in 'extreme pain' and with cuts to his legs. He later admitted wounding with intent and false imprisonment. Appearing via video link, Ashcroft was handed three years in a young offenders' institute and a lifelong restraining order.
Sentencing, Judge Katherine Pierpoint said: 'You and the complainant have known each other since you were very young. You had been back in contact with each other. You gave no indication that there were any issues between the two of you.' She added: 'You are somebody who has not had an easy start to life. You have experienced several adverse childhood experiences. You have witnessed domestic abuse. You have been exposed to physical abuse yourself. You had numerous involvements with social care. You were excluded from school in 2023, but did obtain four GCSEs.'
'You have been diagnosed, since 2024, with autism, and you also now have a diagnosis in relation to ADHD. I accept that, at the time of this offence and the build up to it, your mental health was deteriorating. You had, only a few weeks before, very sadly lost your younger cousin, who was only 10 years of age. I do not doubt that will have affected everybody in your family.'
'You have been using drugs since you were about 15 years of age. It is to your credit that, over the last few months that you have been on remand, you have applied yourself well. You have engaged with mental health services. It shows what you can do when you abstain from drugs and take up the support that is offered to you. I accept that, in the cold, sober light of day, you do show remorse for what you did.'
