The 16-year-old killer of schoolboy Joshua Ingram threatened that he would “perish” three months before stabbing him to death over a £20 drug debt, a jury heard this afternoon (Tuesday 7 July).
Rossano Scamardella, prosecuting, told the jury that the boy who killed Josh had plotted his “cowardly attack” with two friends who were arrested on their way to dispose of the murder weapon.
Mr Scamardella said: “The incident was over in a flash but the attack was anything but spontaneous … The attack was planned – and it was carried out with lethal effect.”
The “cold-blooded” killer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was filmed by security cameras as he ran up behind Josh at Seaford Railway Station and stabbed him twice, Mr Scamardella said.
At Hove Crown Court, the barrister played the footage to the jurors and showed them the knife.
He said: “Such was the sharpness of the blade and the force used, the knife tracked through his coat and clothing and entered his body on the lower front right side of his chest.
“It passed upwards through his diaphragm and into and through the right ventricle of his heart. The blade travelled 15cm into his body.
“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 collapsed on the station platform and, despite the very best attempts by members of the public and emergency workers, he died within an hour of being stabbed and even before he could be taken to a hospital.
“As Joshua lay dying on the platform, (his killer) was fleeing the scene and planning how to get away with murder.
“His first step was to try to dispose of the murder weapon and he did that by turning to … one of the boys who had planned the attack with him.
“(The killer) put the blade in a JD Sports bag and went to (his friend’s) home address. He gave him the bag in which the knife and some clothing had been put.
“Later that same day, (the killer’s two friends) met and took the bag, which contained the knife, with them as they walked through Seaford.”
As police swarmed into the town, the boy killer’s two friends were spotted by local youngsters who had already heard what had happened. One of the child accomplices tried to flee.
Mr Scamardella said: “They eventually caught up with him and subjected both boys to a beating. It did not last long and they managed to get away.
“While en route to dispose of the murder weapon over the cliff, they were stopped by the police and taken to Seaford Police Station.
