Wannabe gangster who stabbed boy to death over £20 drug debt jailed for life

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named, knifed Joshua Ingram (pictured) with a 19cm-long blade he had hidden in his tracksuit bottoms (Picture: Family Handout/British Transport Police) A wannabe gangster who stabbed a 16-year-old boy to death over a £20 drug debt has been jailed for at least 14 years.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named, knifed Joshua Ingram with a 19cm-long blade he had hidden in his tracksuit bottoms at Seaford railway station in East Sussex, on September 10, 2025.

Hove Crown Court heard the ‘rather pathetic’ killer adopted a ‘faux gangster persona’ after being influenced online.

After he wasn’t repaid, he wrote on Snapchat: ‘Josh will perish if I don’t get my f****** money, that’s a fact and he knows this. I’m ready to sit in a prison cell for 30 years over a £20 sheet.’

He pleaded guilty to manslaughter but was found guilty of murder following a trial.

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Judge Mr Justice Bourne jailed him for life with a minimum term of 14 years on Friday.

Joshua’s family said his death showed the ‘devastating consequences’ of teenage knife crime as they urged young people to rethink their choices.

In a victim impact statement read to court, Joshua’s mother Yvette Bullen described her son, saying: ‘Kind, caring, cheeky, loveable rogue, great friend, goofball but also challenging and a little sod – all the traits that made Josh, Josh.’

She added: ‘A young person with hopes, dreams and the future. Josh was loved. His life mattered and ours will never be the same again.’

Ms Bullen continued: ‘As his mother I live with guilt every day. On the Friday before, Josh had ask me for £20 and I said no. That’s a parenting decision I will regret for the rest of my life.’

She described seeing her son, who was training to be a bricklayer, being taken away on a stretcher following the attack and only being able to give him a kiss on the forehead after he had died because his body was a ‘crime scene’.

Calling for her son’s death to send a message to others to prevent knife crime, she said: ‘His life was worth so much more than £20.

‘I hope this vicious, senseless act makes others think before carrying a knife and, as for others, if you know someone is carrying one, report it rather than assisting them, because this could have been prevented if someone had spoken up.’

Sentencing the teenager, Mr Justice Bourne KC said: ‘Joshua Ingram was a popular young man with all his life before him.’

He added: ‘It seems that Josh Ingram owed you about £20. That, of course, cannot begin to explain what you did.

‘It would not provide even the smallest excuse for hurting someone, let alone for attacking them with a large knife.’

Colin Aylott KC, defending, said that the defendant had been influenced online leading him to adopt a ‘faux gangster persona’.

He said: ‘Influence online led to the adoption of this rather disturbing language and disturbing persona.

‘It was all rather pathetic and reflects the immaturity of the defendant.’

Two other teenagers, aged 17 and 15, are set to be sentenced later on Friday for assisting an offender.

British Transport Police Detective Chief Inspector Paul Stanley said: ‘Today’s sentencing is the conclusion of a deeply tragic case. Though we have seen justice served, there will be no celebration for Joshua Ingram’s family as they continue to mourn their devastating loss.

‘Joshua’s life was tragically cut short in an attack that can only be described as vicious and cowardly.

‘Our investigation proved that the defendant had messaged extensively about harming Joshua as a result of a petty debt for about £20 of cannabis.

‘In court, he attempted to dismiss these messages as sheer bravado and fantasy. But following a chance meeting on that fateful day, he put his talk into action taking Joshua’s life from a singular blow with a large knife he routinely carried.’

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