A teenager has been found guilty of murdering a 16-year-old boy at a train station in Seaford, East Sussex, over an unpaid £20 drug debt.
The 16-year-old defendant, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was convicted by a jury at Hove Crown Court on Wednesday after fatally stabbing Joshua Ingram on September 10, 2025…..See More
Two other teenagers, aged 17 and 15, were tried alongside him on charges of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent between June 1 and September 11, 2025. Jurors found both boys not guilty of that charge.
However, the 15-year-old was convicted of assisting an offender after the killing, while the 17-year-old had previously pleaded guilty to the same offence.
During the trial, prosecutors said the convicted teenager was a “small-time drug dealer” who had supplied Joshua with cannabis during the summer of 2025 but had not been paid.
Snapchat messages presented in court revealed the teenager’s anger over the unpaid debt. In one message, he wrote:
“Josh will perish if I don’t get my f****** money, that’s a fact and he knows this.”
In another, he stated:
“I’m ready to sit in a prison cell for 30 years over a £20 sheet.”
Prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC told the court that the defendant travelled to Seaford carrying a 19-centimetre knife concealed in his tracksuit bottoms. He approached Joshua from behind at the train station and stabbed him twice.
“Joshua stood no chance,” the prosecutor said.
“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 hospital. All of this over a £20 cannabis debt.”
Although the defendant admitted to manslaughter during the trial, he denied murder, describing the incident as “a tragic and reckless moment.”
He told jurors he viewed the knife as an “accessory” after purchasing it through Telegram and claimed he never intended to kill or seriously injure Joshua.
The court also heard that the teenager had owned the knife since Year 9 and would regularly wave it around at home to intimidate others playfully.
Medical evidence showed the blade penetrated approximately 15 centimetres into Joshua’s body during the attack.
A friend who witnessed the incident testified that the attacker calmly asked, “Is that Josh?” before stepping forward, drawing the knife from his right hip and stabbing Joshua twice before fleeing.
“He had no hesitation,” the witness told the court.
“He had a very still facial expression. He wasn’t pulling a face, he didn’t look angry. He looked very calm and just normal, but then just did that. I don’t think Josh even knew what had happened.”
The witness said Joshua managed to take only a few steps before collapsing as emergency services were called.
Following Joshua’s death, his family described him as a “cheeky chappie who was loved by many” and said he had been taken “far too soon.”
The convicted teenager and the two other defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on October 2.See More