Teenager stabbed boy, 16, to death at train station over £20 of cannabis

A teenager has been found guilty of murdering a 16-year-old boy at a train station over a £20 drug debt.

The killer, who is also 16, was convicted by a jury at Hove Crown Court on Wednesday, of stabbing Joshua Ingram to death in Seaford, East Sussex, in September last year.

The juvenile defendant, who cannot be named due to his age, pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murder, claiming he stabbed Joshua in a "tragic and reckless moment".

There were gasps from the public gallery, where Joshua's parents and family were sitting, as the murder verdict was read out.

The defendant was on trial alongside two other boys, aged 17 and 15, who were accused of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent in the lead-up to the stabbing.

Jurors found all three of them not guilty of that charge.

The 15-year-old was found guilty of assisting an offender on the day of the murder and the 17-year-old had already pleaded guilty to the same offence.

The knife attack took place when the teenage killer went to Seaford station with a 19cm knife hidden in his tracksuit bottoms, then approached Joshua and stabbed him twice.

The blade went 15cm into Joshua's body, medical experts told jurors during the trial.

In a statement following the verdict, Joshua's family described him as a "cheeky chappy" who was two days into a brick laying course at college.

"This is a future life he will now never achieve. As a family, our lives changed forever that evening," his family, including his mother, Yvette Bullen, and father, Dave Ingram, said.

"We hope Josh's story serves as a reminder of the devastating consequences of knife crime.

"This reckless behaviour devastates countless lives.

"So we urge young people to rethink, choose a different path in life, to avoid another family going through the pain and suffering we have, and will continue to do so for the rest of our lives."

'He stood no chance'

Prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC said the 16-year-old defendant was a "small-time drug dealer" who had supplied Joshua with drugs in the summer of 2025, but had not been paid for them.

"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 that he could not survive," he told the court.

"He collapsed on the station platform and despite the very best attempts by members of the public and emergency workers, he died within an hour of being stabbed and even before he could be taken to hospital."

He added: "All of this over a £20 cannabis debt."

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The boy told jurors he viewed the 19cm knife as an "accessory" which he had bought on Telegram but "didn't look at it for what it actually was" and never intended to kill or seriously harm Joshua.

The court also heard the teenager had the knife used to kill Joshua since he was in Year 9 and would "wave it around and playfully intimidate" people with it at his house.

Giving evidence in the trial, a friend of Joshua's who was with him when he was stabbed, said he saw the attacker "with no hesitation".

The friend said the defendant asked, "is that Josh?", before he stepped ahead of him, pulled a knife from his right hip and "went for it twice" and ran.

He said: "He had no hesitation - he had a very still facial expression, he wasn't pulling a face, he didn't look like he had anger in him.

"He looked very calm and just normal, but then just did that. I don't think Josh even knew what had happened."

The friend described how Joshua walked a couple of steps and then "dropped to the floor" as he tried to call 999.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Stanley, of the British Transport Police, said the jury saw through the defendant's attempts to "diminish his actions" and dismiss messages about harming Joshua as "sheer bravado".

"But following a chance meeting on that fateful day, he put his talk into action, taking Joshua's life with a singular blow and a large knife he routinely carried," he said.

The defendant will be sentenced on 2 October.

(c) Sky News 2026: Teenager stabbed boy, 16, to death at train station over £20 of cannabis