Man 'flipped' before hammer killing, jury hears

Derek Martin (pictured in 2023) denies murder

A man told police he "flipped" before killing the parents of four children, a trial has heard.

Derek Martin admitted the manslaughter of Chloe and Josh Bashford in their home in Newhaven, East Sussex, but denies murder due to diminished responsibility.

Jurors at Brighton Law Courts were shown police body-worn camera footage of Martin's arrest when he turned himself in at Brighton Police Station hours after the June 2023 attack.

In the video, the 67-year-old is seen walking into the building and telling officers: "I've killed two people".

He is asked if he suffers with any mental health issues and replies: "A bit. Anxiety and depression."

Jurors at the court heard Martin told police in an interview he had "just flipped" while washing windows and had hit Chloe Bashford, 30, over the head with a hammer before stabbing her.

He then allegedly waited for her husband Josh to come home and attacked him just after he entered the house.

The 33-year-old saw the knife and ran upstairs, Martin said.

He told police he followed and remembered stabbing him in the front of his body.

Martin, from Brighton, said he "didn't want to stab him anymore so I tied something around his neck and pulled it tight".

Martin then picked up their four children after school as he wanted to "look after" them.

He bought them a drink at Costa, then food at McDonald's in Newhaven before driving them to the home of Chloe's mother - his former wife - in Brighton.

Just before 19:00 he walked into the East Sussex city's police station and said what had happened.

Martin told police the couple's four children were "his life" and he felt very guilty about killing their parents.

He said he "hoped to wake up soon and find it did not happen".

Martin had been married to Chloe's mother and jurors heard she thought of him as a stepfather.