Man stabbed stepdaughter and her husband to death in their home

A man stabbed his stepdaughter and her husband to death “in quick succession” at their home after he “just lost it”, a court has heard.

Parents-of-four Josh Bashford, 33, and Chloe Bashford, 30, were found dead at their home in Newhaven, East Sussex, on June 9 2023.

Derek Martin, 67, from Brighton, admitted manslaughter of the couple in August 2023, but denies murder.

On Monday, jurors at Brighton Law Courts heard there is “no dispute” about whether Martin killed the couple, but he claims diminished responsibility, arguing that he was suffering an “abnormality of mental functioning” at the time.

Martin and Mrs Bashford had spent the morning together before he attacked her with a hammer and stabbed her eight times just after midday

He then ambushed Mr Bashford, who had been driving home from work, and chased him into an upstairs bedroom before stabbing and ligaturing him.

That afternoon, Martin met their four children at a coffee shop and dropped them at their grandmother’s house, before turning himself in at Brighton police station.

Prosecuting, Julian Evans KC said: “Chloe and Joshua were attacked and killed in quick succession. Both attacks took place inside their home address.

“Chloe was attacked first. When she was attacked, Chloe and Derek Martin were in the house together. Josh was not there at the time, he was about to arrive at home.

“At about 12:16, just after a quarter past midday, Derek Martin attacked Chloe with a hammer. He hit her with the hammer on the top of her head.

“Then he went to the kitchen to retrieve a large knife and having done so, he then repeatedly stabbed Chloe with that knife, causing severe injuries from which she died.

“At about 12:20, Josh arrived home. Just after he entered the house, Derek Martin attacked him. In the course of the attack, Derek Martin repeatedly stabbed Josh with a knife and compressed his neck with a ligature, causing injuries from which he too died.”

Martin removed the handles from the bedroom doors the bodies were lying in, changed his clothes, and took the doorbell camera off the front door, the court heard.

He then collected the youngest children from school and drove them to the Costa Coffee in Peacehaven, where he met the other children.

Later, after stopping to dispose of Mrs Bashford’s phone and dropping off the children, he went into the police station and said: “I’ve murdered two people.”

While Martin was not still in a relationship with Mrs Bashford’s mother, he had stayed “close friends” with his stepdaughter, and she referred to him as “step dad” in a text to her friend the day she died, the court heard.

Her eldest son described Martin as a “grandfather figure” and said he was “easy to be around”, but added that he had a “bad temper” and could “switch up” easily.

Martin first admitted being responsible for the killings in police interview on June 10 2023.

Mr Evans recounted the interview in court: “He said that he felt he was getting ‘used’ all of the time. He could not do enough for people, and he had got into a lot of debt himself as well.

“Then he said that he ‘just lost it’ and he ‘just flipped’. He hit Chloe on the head with the hammer. He did not know what had happened.

“He said that Josh came in the door. He (Martin) was behind the door. He said that Josh saw him with the knife in his hand and he ran upstairs.

“Martin followed Josh upstairs and Josh ran into the bedroom.

“He said that he remembered stabbing Josh. He stabbed him somewhere in the front of his body. He did not know how many times he stabbed him.”

Five psychiatrists have been instructed to assess whether Martin can use the diminished responsibility defence.

All of them have reported Martin as having a depressive disorder at the time of the attacks, but there is dispute about the severity and whether it reduces his culpability for the killings.

The trial continues and is due to last three weeks.