A 17-year-old boy has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 14 years for murdering 16-year-old Joshua Ingram at Seaford railway station in East Sussex over a £20 drug debt. The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty in August of the murder, which took place on September 10, 2025.
Attack at Seaford station
The teenager was sentenced at Hove Crown Court after standing trial alongside two other boys, aged 17 and 15. All three had been accused of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent between June 1 and September 11, but jurors found them not guilty of that charge. The 15-year-old was found guilty of assisting an offender on the day of the murder, while the 17-year-old had already pleaded guilty to the same charge.
Prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC said the defendant went to Seaford with a 19cm-long knife hidden in his tracksuit bottoms. He approached Joshua, who was from Newhaven, and stabbed him twice from behind.
Court hears of knife and messages
The trial heard the defendant was a "small-time drug dealer" who had supplied Joshua with drugs in the summer of 2025 but had not been paid. Snapchat messages sent before the stabbing were read to jurors, including one in which the killer said: "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."
Mr Scamardella 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." He added that Joshua collapsed on the platform and died within an hour, despite efforts from members of the public and emergency workers, and concluded: "All of this over a £20 cannabis debt."
Defendant's account and sentence
The defendant had pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of manslaughter and told jurors it was a "tragic and reckless moment". He said he viewed the knife as an "accessory" and never intended to kill or seriously harm Joshua. The court also heard he had owned the knife since Year 9 and would "wave it around and playfully intimidate" others. Joshua suffered a 15cm-deep stab wound.
Joshua's friend, who was with him at the time, said the attacker asked "Is that Josh?" before pulling the knife from his right hip and stabbing twice. He described the defendant as calm and without hesitation, adding: "I don’t think Josh even knew what had happened." The teenager was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 14 years.
