By Eliana Nunes

Copyright mirror

Chilling footage shows the moment a man walked into a police station and told Sussex Police “I killed two people” after allegedly murdering his stepdaughter and her husband. Derek Martin, 67, from Brighton , is accused of murdering Chloe, 30, and Josh Bashford, 33, at their home in Newhaven, East Sussex . Jurors at Brighton Law Courts have been told there is “no dispute” about whether Martin killed the couple, but he claims diminished responsibility, arguing that he was suffering an “abnormality of mental functioning” at the time. The couple were killed following a dispute over money after Martin, who had been previously married to Chloe’s mother, claimed that Chloe was due to pay a tenth of the £1,500 she owed him, the jury was told. Footage played to jurors shows Martin entering the police station, where a uniformed officer asks, “What’s happened today?” Martin replies: “I’ve killed two people.” The officer asks Martin if he suffers from any mental health issues, to which he replies, “a bit”, before clarifying, “anxiety and depression”. When asked by the officer what caused a wound on his right hand, Martin says it was “a knife”. While sitting down, he repeats “I’ve killed two people” and names them as “Chloe and Joshua Bashford”. Later, Martin is seen asking police to arrest him because “there’s two people dead”. The court heard that the couple were killed on June 9, 2023, after Martin “flipped” during discussions with Chloe over money. Chloe was said to have dropped her and her husband’s children off at school before Martin bought her breakfast and drove her to Sainsbury’s to pick up shopping. He killed her several hours later, bludgeoning her with a hammer before stabbing her with a knife multiple times, jurors heard. When Josh returned home from work, Martin chased him up the stairs and then allegedly stabbed him four times before strangling him. The court heard that Martin then cleaned the scene, changed his clothes and calmly collected the couple’s four children – who referred to him as “granddad” – from school, taking them to Costa Coffee. The court heard he later made his way to the police station where he told police “I’ve murdered two people.” Martin said he felt he was being “used” by people all of the time and had got into a large amount of debt. Julian Evans KC, prosecuting, said: “Chloe and Joshua were attacked and killed in quick succession. Both attacks took place inside their home address. “Chloe was attacked first. When she was attacked, Chloe and Derek Martin were in the house together. Josh was not there. He was about to arrive at home. He attacked Chloe with a hammer. He hit her with the hammer on the top of her head. Then he went to the kitchen to retrieve a large knife. Having done so, he repeatedly stabbed Chloe with that knife causing severe injuries from which she died. “He stabbed her eight times, to the upper back and to the abdomen. Two stab wounds penetrated to a depth of about 20cm. The knife caused severe injuries from which Chloe died. A few minutes later, at about 12.20, Josh arrived home. Just after he entered the house, Derek Martin attacked him.” The court heard how the pensioner attempted to clean up the crime scene and change his clothes. He then picked up the children, telling the oldest that their parents had a “big row”. Martin later drove the children to the home of his ex-wife, Elaine Sturges – Chloe’s mother – in Brighton, the court heard. Despite having separated from Ms Sturges many years earlier, prosecutors said Chloe continued to refer to Martin as her stepfather. The following day, Martin messaged Ms Sturges. He sent a 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.”. During a police interview, Martin admitted to killing the couple. He said: “We were arguing about the flipping money, and I just went berserk.” The court was told Martin had a gambling habit and had turned to burglary in order to raise money. He claimed he had “a bit of a screaming match” with Chloe. Martin claimed that he had said to Chloe, “I want my f*****g money”, to which she replied, “Well don’t bother with us anymore.” The court heard how when Josh came into the house, he began to shout asking: “Where’s Chloe?” Martin told cops: “I still had the knife in my hand. That was when I must have stabbed him, I don’t remember, there was too much shouting, it all happened so quick.” When asked why he attacked Josh, Martin told police: “Because he saw I had the knife in my hand, he was screaming, he came towards me and said where is f******g Chloe. I just lost it.” The trial continues.