A killer was filmed calmly taking his stepdaughter’s children to McDonald’s moments after he had beaten her to death with a hammer and stabbed her husband.
Derek Martin, 67, was found guilty of murder today as he ‘just flipped’ and brutally attacked Chloe Bashford, 30, in her own home in Newhaven, East Sussex following a row over money.
New footage shows Martin stand beside the children, wearing a pair of blue shorts, as they order food from a digital screen in the McDonald’s store.
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.
Earlier in the day, Martin had grabbed a hammer and bludgeoned Mrs Bashford on the head several times before walking to the kitchen and fetching a knife – then stabbing her eight times as she lay on the floor.
He then lay in wait for Mrs Bashford’s husband Josh, 33, to return home at lunch before chasing him upstairs and stabbing him four times and strangling him to death with a belt.
The grandfather attempted to clear up the carnage before calmly picking up the deceased’s children from school.
It was then that 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.’
Today Martin of Moulsecoomb, Brighton was found guilty by a jury at Brighton Law Courts.
The families of both victims gasped as the jury pronounced Martin guilty of both charges of murder.
Martin was impassive as the verdicts were delivered and showed no reaction or emotion.
He had denied murder but admitted manslaughter with diminished responsibility.
The 67-year-old will be sentenced in November.
Speaking after the verdict the families of Mr and Mrs Bashford said the murders had ‘left a massive hole in their hearts.’
Mrs Bashford’s son, Brooklyn, 18, said he was happy with the result.
He said: ‘Everyone is really emotional but everyone is happy with it. My parents were amazing people – the best parents you could ask for. They were always there for us.’
Brooklyn Bashford said the impact on him and his three younger siblings, who have been left orphans, had been immense.
‘We’ve had to adapt to a whole new life. It feel like we’ve had two separate lives. Everyone has taken a while to adapt to it and it’s been really hard for everyone, trying to put it all behind you and carry on. I think, with time, we’ll have to learn to live with it.’
The late Mr Bashford’s brother, Billy, said: ‘We’ve finally got justice for Josh and Chloe. They were lovely people. They loved each other so much, you could clearly see that. They were such a happy, happy family.
‘I think it was such a shock for all of us. It came out of the blue. They were a ray of sunshine. We miss them so, so much. It’s been a tortuous couple of years and they will be sorely missed. It’s only starting to sink in now.’
Breaking down in tears, he said: ’Josh was like a best mate to me. He was everything to me. My life has changed so much without him. It’s ripped a massive hole in our hearts.
‘I look at my brother’s kids and they look so much like him. I want to be involved in their lives and always be there for them.’
Billy Bashford said he could find ‘no words’ to describe what Martin had done to their family but said he got what ‘he deserved.’
He added: ‘He’s completely ruined a lot of lives. I have no words for what he has done. He’s just completely broken everyone.’
The court heard Martin had previously been married to Mrs Bashford’s mother, Elaine Sturges, but they had separated and divorced before Mrs Bashford was born.
However after a spell in prison for burglary Martin had apparently turned over a new leaf and formed a close bond with the family again.
He was said to have enjoyed helping out with chores around Mrs Bashford’s home in Newhaven, East Sussex – carrying out DIY tasks and decorating.
Brighton Law Courts heard Martin had lent Mrs Bashford around £1,500 to help her and her husband 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 at school before taking Mrs Bashford for breakfast at a carvery near her home.
The jury heard the pair 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 Mrs Bashford got into an argument about the money she owed him with Martin shouting: ‘I want my f******g money’.
The court heard Mrs Bashford responsed: ‘Well don’t bother with us anymore. Don’t bother coming round anymore.’
Martin told police he ‘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.
He lay in wait and as Mr Bashford entered the house he was waiting behind the front door with the knife.
The jury heard Mr Bashford 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.
Martin picked up the two youngest children from school and arranged to meet the others at Costa Coffee in Newhaven.
He then took them to a McDonald’s restaurant and bought them a meal before loading them into the 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 67-year-old had a violent upbringing, the court previously heard.
He started stealing while he was still school aged and had been in and out of prison most of his adult life.
Martin had been sectioned under the mental health act and was said at court to have had a history of self harm and depression.
‘He is emotionally unstable, sometimes called borderline personality disorder,’ Consultant psychiatrist Dr Ian Cumming said.
The best description was deemed to be recurrent depressive disorder.
Martin told Broadmoor doctors he noticed a change in his mental state in the months before their deaths.
‘He reported feeling depressed, not sleeping, poor concentration, thoughts of wanting to die and stopping his medication.
‘He said he did not deserve to be better,’ Dr Cumming said.
Martin offered financial support and did jobs around the house and told doctors he was committing burglaries to help the family financially.
Dr Cumming said: ‘He began to have the negative cognition he was being abused by Chloe. He began to think of her as somebody who was using him. Something he said was in his head all the time.
‘I didn’t get the sense he was making up symptoms. He had reported a reasonably consistent subset of symptoms.
‘There is internal consistency in the accounts he has given,’ Dr Cumming said.
The attack on Mr and Mrs Bashford was an unplanned and impulsive attack in response to events of that day, Dr Cumming had insisted.
Dr Cumming said: ‘He felt he was being used. When she said don’t come around any more, it felt like he was being cut off. The anger led him to kill and attack her.
‘There was no sense of planning ahead. This seems to be what fuelled it.’
However Professor Nigel Blackwood, a psychiatric consultant, told the court ‘rage and resentment’ had driven Martin to murder the married couple.
He told the jury: ‘His state of rage when he is engaged in killing Chloe simply carries over into his assault of Mr Bashford. It’s not just a sudden assault in a brief moment of anger. It’s sustained.’
Prof Blackwood said: ‘His ability to understand his conduct or exercise self-control was not impaired’.
