Derek Martin has been jailed for life, to serve a minimum of 29 years, for murdering parents Josh and Chloe Bashford
The son of a lifelong Crystal Palace fan says he will ‘never forgive’ his mum’s stepdad who killed both his parents in a moment of ‘rage and resentment’. Parents-of-four Josh Bashford, 33, and Chloe Bashford, 30, were killed in “in quick succession” with a hammer and knife by Derek Martin, 67, who then went and picked up two of their children from school.
Martin, 67, from Moulsecoomb Way in Brighton, has today (Thursday, November 6) been jailed for at least 29 years. At the sentencing, the court heard a statement from the couple’s eldest son, Brooklynn Bashford, who paid tribute to his “loving” parents and said: “There is not a single day that goes by where I don’t think about them.”
The 18-year-old said he has “nightmares” and “constant flashbacks” of the day his parents died. Speaking of Martin, he said: “I will never forgive him.” Josh and Chloe were found dead at their home in Newhaven, East Sussex, on June 9, 2023.
While jailing Martin for life, Mrs Justice Justine Thornton KC said: “Your attacks were driven by rage and resentment. The murders of Chloe and Josh has caused profound grief to their families.
“As a result of your actions, their families will suffer for the rest of their lives. Chloe and Josh were killed in their homes where they were entitled to feel safe. There is only one sentence for murder, and that is imprisonment for life.”
Martin was reportedly “close friends” with Chloe having been previously married to her mum, Elaine Sturges, but they had divorced some years before she was born. Grieving mum Elaine, 65, told the court that her life will “never be the same” after the loss of her daughter and she is putting on a “brave face” as she brings up Mr and Mrs Bashford’s four children.
She said that Mrs Bashford would have “felt safe” with Martin as he had known her since she was born. On the day of the horrific double murder Chloe had referred to him as ‘stepdad’ in a text to a friend when she went for breakfast with Martin.
They then went to the Bashford’s home in Newhaven. In a police interview, Martin would later confess he had been cleaning a window at the property when he “just flipped” over a row with Chloe. He struck her over the head with a hammer and then stabbed her eight times.
Josh was a lifelong fan of the Eagles and at his funeral his casket was draped with a Crystal Palace flag and loved ones wore Palace tops with “Josh 33” on the back.
He arrived home shortly after Chloe was murdered to find Martin with a knife in his hand. Josh ran upstairs but was chased by Martin, who repeatedly stabbed him and then strangled him to death.
After killing the couple, Martin collected two of their children from school and met all four children in a Costa Coffee before taking them to their grandmother’s house. He then bought some beers which he drank on the seafront before turning himself in at Brighton police station.
The Bashford’s eldest son previously 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.
Prosecuting, Julian Evans KC said: “Chloe and Josh 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 12.16pm 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 12.20pm 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 doors of the bedrooms in which the bodies were lying, changed his clothes and took the doorbell camera off the front door, the court heard. Later, after stopping to dispose of Chloe’s phone in a bush near a Sainsbury’s, and drop off the children, he went into the police station and said: “I’ve murdered two people.”
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 were instructed to assess whether Martin could use the diminished responsibility defence. The court heard that Martin had been suffering a mild to moderate “depressive episode” at the time of the attack.
Judge Thornton said she gave “very little weight” to Martin’s age when deciding his sentence. Martin admitted manslaughter of the couple in August 2023, but denied murder, claiming he was suffering from an “abnormality of mental functioning” at the time. Last month, jurors at Brighton Law Courts rejected Martin’s claims of “diminished responsibility”, finding him guilty on both counts of murder.
Martin was jailed for life, with a minimum term of 29 years. He will also be ordered to pay a victim surcharge. He has already served 878 days of his sentence on remand.
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