A man who murdered a couple inside their Newhaven home before collecting their children from school and taking them to McDonald’s was jailed for life with a minimum term of 26 years.
Derek Martin murdered Chloe and Josh Bashford at their home on 9 June 2023.
Martin had known Chloe since she was a baby after previously being married to her mother, Elaine, and remained closely involved with the family following the end of their marriage.
On the morning of the killings, Martin helped take Chloe and Josh’s children, then aged four, seven, 12 and 15, to school.
He and Chloe later went for breakfast and grocery shopping before returning to the family home, where Martin carried out several jobs.
At around 12.15pm, Martin attacked Chloe with a hammer, striking her repeatedly on the head.
He then went into the kitchen, obtained a knife and stabbed her eight times, including five wounds to her upper back and three to her abdomen.
Josh arrived home from work minutes later and encountered Martin inside the property.
Martin chased him upstairs, attacking him with the knife before stabbing him four times in the couple’s bedroom.
He then used a rope to strangle Josh.
After killing the couple, Martin cleaned the knife and some of the blood inside the property, changed his clothes and removed door handles from rooms containing the bodies.
He also removed the home’s doorbell camera.
Martin subsequently collected the younger children from school and arranged to meet the older children at Costa.
He bought them drinks before taking them to McDonald’s for food, telling them their parents had argued and that he would look after them while they sorted things out.
Martin later took the children to their grandmother’s home before leaving.
He bought beer and went to the seafront before sending his former wife a message at around 6.11pm saying he was sorry, asking her to look after the children and saying he was going to the police station.
Martin then handed himself in to police and admitted killing Chloe and Josh.
He claimed there had been an argument with Chloe about money and said he had felt he was being used and had “flipped”.
Martin denied murder and his defence argued that his mental health meant he should instead be convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
The court heard evidence from five forensic psychiatrists concerning Martin’s recurrent depressive disorder and his mental state at the time of the killings.
However, there was disagreement among the experts over whether his condition met the requirements for a diminished responsibility defence.
The jury rejected the defence and convicted Martin of murdering both Chloe and Josh Bashford.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to serve a minimum of 26 years before he can be considered for release.
