Teen who killed boy over £20 debt convicted of murder

A teenager has been found guilty of murdering a 16-year-old boy over an unpaid £20 cannabis debt.

Joshua Ingram was attacked by the teenager with a 19cm (7.5 inch) combat-style knife at Seaford railway station in East Sussex on 10 September 2025.

A jury at Hove Crown Court convicted the 16-year-old on Wednesday after two days of deliberations.

The boy, who cannot be named due to his age, had previously pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of manslaughter, calling the incident a "tragic and reckless moment".

He was also found, alongside two other boys aged 15 and 17, not guilty of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm with intent.

The 15-year-old boy was found guilty of assisting an offender, which the 17-year-old had previously admitted to.

The court heard that in June 2025, the 16-year-old sent a message on Snapchat using an expletive and homophobic language to say Joshua owed him "a £20 sheet".

A Snapchat message from the teenager which was read to the court said "Josh will perish" if he didn't pay a debt, adding: "That's a fact and he knows this."

Defence lawyers for the 16-year-old tried to characterise the messages as an"immature young man trying to impress his friends".

Joshua, from Newhaven, died after being stabbed twice, in the back and side, outside the railway station.

A Seaford woman who gave evidence to the trial told the jury how she saw two boys from her kitchen window who appeared "very agitated".

One of the boys said to her "my best friend has just stabbed somebody in Seaford", she said.

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