Families claim that the double killer “played the system.”
Billy Bashford said, “It’s been hell,” following the conviction of his brother’s killer on Friday. “It’s been a burden on my shoulders for a very long time.”
“It’s affected relationships in my life, my work life, my family life.” More than two years had gone by since Derek Martin killed Chloe and Josh Bashford at their house in Newhaven, East Sussex, and his murder trial had been postponed five times before it started in early October. Sharon Bashford, the mother of Josh, said: “We have had to wait from the time of the killings just to try and get a bit of normality in our lives, to stop the flow of tears and all this anguish and upset.” She called it “unbearable” to have to repeatedly prepare for the start of the trial.
“You build yourself up for it and then suddenly at the very last minute, things change,” she added. “Things are cancelled because the defence is always asking for another psychiatric evaluation, since Derek Martin has changed his strategy, his evidence of what he actually did at the crime site. “In my opinion, Derek is to blame as he is in charge. He is in charge of the trial. He is in charge of us. He is in charge of everyone. He’s giggling, too.
Elaine Sturges, Chloe’s mother, who was previously married to Martin but broke up with him years ago, shares that rage. She said that when her ex-husband’s legal team contended that his history of depression precluded him from being held entirely accountable for his acts, he had been “lying” to the court. He had denied murder but admitted manslaughter on that basis. One of the partial defences against murder is diminished culpability. A defendant will be found guilty of manslaughter and given a lighter sentence if they can demonstrate that they were suffering from an impairment of mental functioning.
“He always told us ‘I know how to play the system,'” Ms. Sturges recalled. I am fully prepared to say it. I know just how to behave. “And he was caught off guard by this one. It was neither manslaughter nor diminished responsibility. His failure to get his own way led to cold-blooded murder. spoilt brat. Jason Godden, Chloe’s father, went on to say: “He’s playing the system just to try and get a lower sentence.” Jurors were told that Martin, 67, had become close to Chloe, 30 in recent years.
He visited the home she lived with Josh almost daily and helped her with the school run, cleaning and decorating. On 9 June, 2023, Martin left the youngest children at school and childcare before taking Chloe out for breakfast. The court heard how, upon returning to her house, the two argued over the payback of money he had previously lent her. Martin killed her there by stabbing her and attacking her with a hammer. When Josh, 33, returned from work a few minutes later, he was also fatally stabbed and strangled.
According to Josh and Chloe’s family, they were “brilliant” parents who “would do anything” for their kids, who were four to fifteen years old when they passed away. Following the murders, Brighton resident Martin made an effort to conceal his actions from the kids. After school, he took them out for drinks, cleaned up the house, and then drove them to McDonald’s for supper. Josh’s father, Andrew Bashford, stated: “He removed the door handles from the doors that contained the victims. He unplugged the front door’s Ring doorbell.
“He took their vehicle to a Newhaven road. After that, he went to pick up the kids and texted the older ones to tell them to meet me at Costa instead of coming home. “It’s amazing how someone that can plead diminished responsibility then can think as clearly as that.” Sharon Bashford continued, “The fact that he changed his clothes, the fact that he hid their phones, everything, it was all structured.” Martin went to Brighton Police Station to turn himself in after dropping the kids off outside Elaine’s house.
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