A grandfather who knifed his stepdaughter and her husband to death in a row over money before taking their children to a McDonald’s has been jailed for at least 29 years.
Derek Martin, 67, ‘just flipped’ after a row erupted over money and attacked his stepdaughter, Chloe Bashford, 30, in her own home.
He grabbed a hammer and repeatedly bludgeoned her on the head several times before grabbing a kitchen knife and stabbing the mother-of-four eight times as she lay on the floor.
Martin then lay in wait for her husband Josh, 33, to return home at lunch before chasing him upstairs and stabbing him four times before strangling him to death with a belt.
The grandfather attempted to clear up the bloody carnage before calmly picking up their four children from school.
He took them for a meal at McDonald’s before dropping them off at their grandmother’s house and turning himself into the police.
Police body cam footage showed the moment he walked into Brighton police station and chillingly confessed: ‘I’ve killed two people.’
Although he admitted killing the couple, he claimed he had been suffering from a serious mental disorder at the time and denied murdering them.
Derek Martin, 67, ‘just flipped’ after a row erupted over money and attacked his stepdaughter, Chloe Bashford, 30, in her own home. He has been jailed for 29 years for the killings
He bludgeoned Chloe Bashford, pictured right, with a hammer and repeatedly stabbed her before knifing her spouse Josh Bashford, left, four times and strangling him to death
However, a jury dismissed his defence and convicted Martin of Moulsecoomb, Brighton of both counts of murder at Brighton Law Courts.
Today he was sentenced to a minimum of 29 years in jail – less the 878 days spent on remand.
The court heard Josh and Chloe’s families have been ‘destroyed’ by the shocking murders.
In an impact statement, Josh and Chloe’s son, Brooklyn Bashford, now 18, told the court: ‘He spoke for his family and also his siblings when he said their lives had been ‘changed forever’ by the murders.
He said: ‘The tragic loss of our parents has torn our worlds apart. They were our foundation.’
He said their ‘shocking’ sudden deaths had changed everything for him and his brother and sisters.
He said he cannot think about his mum and dad without imagining the awful things that happened to them.
‘Everything that was once normal and routine like birthdays, Christmas and holidays are now just reminders. It has shattered this entire family. We will always remember mum and dad.’
He said he was ‘confused’ how a man he thought loved them could commit such an awful crime.
In an impact statement, Billy Bashford, Josh’s brother and a serving police officer, said: ‘It leaves me heartbroken and confused. My life has been destroyed in so many different ways. Josh was everything to me. He was my best mate. He was my world.
Ms Bashford, right, could be seen in a clip, played to jurors, heading into a carvery restaurant in Peacehaven, East Sussex, with Martin, left, just hours before the attack
Police body cam footage showed the moment he walked into Brighton police station and chillingly confessed: ‘I’ve killed two people’
He said the brutal murders of Josh and Chloe were his first thought when he woke and his last thought before sleep.
‘Sometimes I lie awake and think about Josh and Chloe. They were such lovely people. I am completely broken. Every part of me has changed as a person.’
He said he was once a chatty, outgoing person but now suffered ‘anxiety and depression’.
He said: ‘I can’t see the happiness in life anymore. I’m always angry and bitter.’
The court heard Martin had been previously been married to Chloe’s mother, Elaine Sturges, but they had separated and divorced before Chloe was born.
However, after a spell in prison for burglar,y Martin had apparently turned over a new leaf and ad formed a close bond with the family again.
He liked to help out with chores around Chloe’s home in Newhaven, East Sussex carrying out DIY tasks and decorating.
Brighton Law Courts heard Martin had lent Chloe around £1,500 to help her and Josh buy a new car and to carry out home improvements.
She was supposed to be paying him back on a monthly basis but had fallen behind with payments.
On the morning of June 9 Martin dropped off the two youngest children, Josh Jnr, four, and Mila, seven, at school before taking Chloe for breakfast at a carvery near her home.
The jury heard the pair popping in Sainbury’s they returned to the house and Martin began doing some DIY jobs around the house including cleaning some windows inside.
As he was working he and Chloe got into an argument about the money she owed him with Martin shouting: ‘I want my f******g money’.
The court heard Chloe retorted: ‘Well don’t bother with us anymore. Don’t bother coming round anymore.’
Martin told police he saw red and ‘lost it’, grabbing a hammer from his tools and bludgeoning her on the head.
When she fell onto the floor he went to the kitchen, got a knife and proceeded to stab her eight times causing fatal injuries.
Martin knew her husband was due to return at lunch as he was supposed to be taking him to view a car which was for sale.
Martin, pictured outside court in 2023, attempted to clear up the bloody carnage before calmly picking up the couple’s four children from school and taking them to a McDonald’s
Footaged showed the killer standing beside the couple’s children, wearing a pair of blue shorts, as they ordered food from a digital screen in a McDonald’s
He is also captured on CCTV sipping a drink in Costa, in the aftermath of the act in June 2023, sitting at a table with the unassuming youngsters
He lay in wait and as Josh entered the house he was waiting behind the front door with the knife.
The jury heard Josh shouted: ‘Where’s Chloe?’ before Martin chased him upstairs and into the marital bedroom where he stabbed him four times in the chest. He then grabbed a belt and then strangled him to death.
Julian Evans KC, prosecuting, 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. He was about to arrive at home.
‘He 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. Having done so, he repeatedly stabbed Chloe with that knife causing severe injuries from which she died.
‘He stabbed her eight times, to the upper back and to the abdomen. Two stab wounds penetrated to a depth of about 20cm. The knife caused severe injuries from which Chloe died.
‘A few minutes later, at about 12:20, Josh arrived home. Just after he entered the house, Derek Martin attacked him.’
Mr Evans told the court he chased Josh up the stairs into the martial bedroom and attacked him with a knife, stabbing him four times to the front of his body before getting a ligature and strangling him.
It was previously heard that Mrs Bashford was attacked first with the hammer before then being stabbed by Martin. She is pictured here with her husband
‘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 picked up the two youngest children from school and arranged to meet the others at Costa Coffee in Newhaven.
He then took the children Brooklyn, 16, Ava, 11, Mila, seven, Josh, four, to a McDonald’s restaurant and bought them a meal before loading them into his car and driving them eight miles to their grandmother’s house in Brighton.
He then sent Ms Sturges a text message saying: ‘Elaine I’m so sorry, I can’t believe what I’ve done, I know everyone hates me anyway especially the boys, I hate myself anyway and please, please look after the children really well.
‘I’m just about to walk into the police station then that’s my days over and good job too, I know it’s going to mean nothing but I’m so sorry, don’t take the children home x.’
Martin went to Brighton police station and told officers: ‘I’ve killed two people.’
The jury heard that in the months leading up to the killings Martin, who had a history of depression and suicide attempts, had stopped taking his medication and had not been sleeping.
He had been staying up and only getting around one or two hours sleep a night before going round to help at his stepdaughter’s home.
Three psychiatric experts said Martin may have been suffering fro a depressive disorder said this may have affected his ability to form a rational judgment and/or exercise self-control.
But Professor Nigel Blackwood, a psychiatric consultant, told the court ‘rage and resentment’ had driven Martin to murder the married couple and said: ‘His ability to understand his conduct or exercise self-control was not impaired’.
In mitigation, Graham Trembath KC, defending, said Martin understood that he would die in prison and while he apologised for what he did on that day in June 2023 he realised there was noting to be achieved by it.
Sentencing Martin to a minimum of 29 years behind bars, Judge Justine Thornton KC said: ‘Your attacks were driven by rage and resentment. The murders have cause profound grief to their families. As a result of your actions they will suffer for the rest of their lives.’
She said the court took into a account the 878 days spent on remand and he would serve a sentence of 26 years, seven months and seven days.
