Teenager murdered over £20 drug debt, court hears

A teenager was murdered by a drug dealer over a £20 cannabis debt, a court has been told.

Joshua Ingram, from Newhaven in East Sussex, was stabbed to death at Seaford railway station on 10 September, 2025.

A 16-year-old boy is on trial at Hove Crown Court charged with murder, which he denies. He has pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of manslaughter.

He is also accused, along with two youths aged 17 and 15, of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, which the defendants, who cannot be named due to their age, deny.

The 15-year-old also denies a charge of assisting an offender, which the 17-year-old has pleaded guilty to.

Rossano Scamardella KC, prosecuting, told the jury the 16-year-old was a small-time drug dealer who supplied Joshua with drugs in summer 2025 but had not been paid for them.

He said the three defendants had "plotted and planned the attack" including discussing where their victim lived, how and where to attack him and what to use to do so.

"All of this over a £20 cannabis debt," Scamardella said.

Scamardella told the jury that in June 2025, the 16-year-old sent a message on Snapchat using an expletive and homophobic language to say Joshua owed him "a £20 sheet".

The 17-year-old replied: "Let's ride out."

Scamardella said this was slang for confronting someone with violence.

By August 2025, he said the 16-year-old and 15-year-old sent messages discussing the attack plan using phrases like poke, wet and dip.

These words, the court was told, were slang for stabbing.

Scamardella said the 16-year-old went to Seaford on the day of the attack with a 19cm (7.4in) knife in his tracksuit bottoms when he approached Joshua and a friend at the railway station.

He said the 16-year-old tapped the friend on the shoulder and asked, "Is that Josh?" before pulling out the knife, prompting the friend to shout to warn Joshua.

The prosecutor said the 16-year-old stabbed Joshua twice, adding: "Such was the sharpness of the blade, and the force used... Joshua stood no chance.

"The speed of the attack from behind gave him no chance to defend himself and the injury he sustained was so serious he could not survive."

The court heard Joshua died within an hour of being stabbed and before he could be taken to hospital.

Scamardella said the 16-year-old fled the scene, putting the knife in a bag with some clothing.

He took it, the court heard, to the 17-year-old's home who put it in his bedroom.

Later that day, the 17-year-old and the 15-year-old took the bag to dispose of over cliffs - but were stopped by police.

The case continues.

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