Teen jailed for £20 debt murder to remain unnamed

The identity of a teenager who murdered a 16-year-old boy over a £20 cannabis debt must remain anonymous, a judge has ruled.

The teenager, who was granted anonymity during his trial because of his age, attacked Joshua Ingram, from Newhaven, with a 19cm (7.5 inch) combat-style knife at Seaford railway station in East Sussex on 10 September, 2025.

The judge at his trial at Hove Crown Court, Mr Justice Bourne KC, said he had adopted a "fake gangster personality" before carrying out the attack. He was jailed for a minimum of 14 years earlier this month.

At a hearing on Monday the same judge ruled that naming Joshua's killer, now 17, "may disrupt the momentum" of his rehabilitation.

The restrictions on naming the offender will end once he turns 18 next year.

The ruling came after arguments from the BBC that reporting his name would follow the principle of open justice, be in the public interest and act as a deterrent to dissuade other young people from committing similar offences.

Stating he was not convinced that naming the defendant would have a "significant deterrent effect", the judge was also persuaded by the teenager's defence counsel, who argued that identifying him would also put his family - including his younger sibling - at risk of harm.

The judge said that, while the public may be "very interested in a particular case", "optimising conditions for the rehabilitation of a child offender" should come first.

Joshua's killer, who had pleaded guilty to manslaughter, was jailed for murder on 2 October and will be on licence for the rest of his life.

During his trial, the court heard he had sent Joshua a threatening message on Snapchat in June 2025 using an expletive and homophobic language to say he owed him "a £20 sheet".

Sentencing the teenager at the time, the judge described his actions as "utterly appalling".

"Josh was a popular young man with his life in front of him. He did nothing to deserve having his life taken away," he added.

Speaking after her son's murderer was sentenced, Joshua's mother, Yvette Bullen, said: "We are the ones who will suffer the life sentence.

"Nothing we can say can truly describe what it means to lose our child, especially in such a violent way."

Two other teenagers involved in the case, aged 17 and 15, were recently given a youth rehabilitation order with one-year of supervision after being convicted of assisting an offender.

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