Sasha Marsden was brutally murdered in a hotel, after being lured there with the promise of a job. Lucinda Herbert revisits this horrifying case, and meets a family member campaigning to keep her killer, David Minto, behind bars.
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00:00A teenage girl was killed in a seaside hotel by a man who, as far as she was concerned,
00:09had offered her a job.
00:12On January the 31st, 2013, Sasha Marsden turned up to what she believed was her first shift
00:19at a guest house in Blackpool.
00:23But for 16-year-old Sasha, what should have been the start of her adult life would tragically
00:29be the end.
00:31On one of the stab wounds to the back of her head, the knife was bent because it hit her
00:35that hard and her skull was chipped.
00:38This popular bright college student was lured to her death in a way that police described
00:43as premeditated and calculating.
00:48She was tortured, raped and her body set on fire.
00:52And to top it off, her killer, David Minto, pleaded not guilty, putting the family through
00:58the absolute hell of going through court.
01:01There's only one word for it really, evil.
01:04The sheer brutality of Minto's attack on this defenceless young woman haunted even hardened
01:10police officers.
01:11I remember the superintendent on the case saying in a speech after the case that this
01:18was in fact the most harrowing thing of his career and how it had always stayed with them.
01:24In this exclusive half-hour documentary for Shots TV, I will revisit the truly shocking
01:31case of Sasha Marsden and meet a family member who is campaigning to keep Minto behind bars.
01:39And as her killer serves out a 35-year jail sentence, I ask whether a life should mean
01:45life.
01:47When another human pushes a knife into another soul and murders them, bring back death, don't
01:54it?
01:55Sasha Marsden lived with her parents in Staining, a quiet village near Blackpool.
02:05She was studying childcare at Blackpool and Fylde College and was described as popular,
02:11bright and fun-loving.
02:13She appeared to be a fun-loving teenager.
02:17She had friends, she had a boyfriend, you know, really typical of a 16-year-old wanting
02:23to be independent, wanting to find her feet in the world and make her mark.
02:28She wanted some money and she knew that getting a job was the way to do it.
02:34She thought she'd found herself a perfect little sideline that her family were happy
02:38with.
02:39It all seemed to be slotted in place for her.
02:42That's when Minto approached Sasha online.
02:45He messaged her saying there was a job vacancy at his hotel, a part-time cleaning job that
02:51would give her a bit of extra cash.
02:54They had some mutual friends, so straight away Sasha probably would have trusted that
02:58he was genuine.
03:00So he contacted her on Facebook.
03:02They had mutual friends and he'd met Sasha previously, they'd been to Coral Island together
03:05with a friend and he asked if she wanted a job in his hotel.
03:10Sasha jumped at the chance.
03:12At 16, you know, it's a bit of spending money for her, a bit of independence, a first job.
03:18So she went, obviously she got dropped off there.
03:22She went really happy, buzzing that she'd got a job.
03:25The first day everything was fine.
03:27It was like an interview the first day, a bit like an induction sort of thing.
03:33She came back, he'd paid her £10, she'd only been there maybe an hour or something, so
03:36she was really happy with that.
03:39And then she went back again on the Thursday, her dad dropped her off and she, obviously
03:46we never saw her again.
03:50The hotel actually belonged to the mother of Minto's girlfriend.
03:54He did work there, but as a barman.
03:57But they had absolutely no idea what he was up to.
04:03Minto had deliberately invited Sasha for the fake interview and to start her first shift
04:09when he knew the hotel would be empty.
04:12He didn't even have the authority to offer her a job.
04:15He'd lured her there at a time when he knew his girlfriend wouldn't be at home.
04:20And once she arrived at the hotel, he attacked her, the evidence suggests instantly, he attacked
04:28her from behind with a knife.
04:30She had over 100 stab wounds to her head, face and neck.
04:34There was 58 just to the back of her head.
04:39The wound that actually killed her was here on her left, like the left artery here.
04:47And she bled out, there was no blood left in her body by the time she'd passed away,
04:52that was the cause of death.
04:55What she walked into was just hell.
04:59She expected to start her job that day and instead she was attacked almost immediately
05:05and her life was over.
05:06So just the levels of violence that she suffered was just awful.
05:13David Minto went to great lengths to cover up his crimes.
05:17He scrubbed the walls with bleach to clear away the blood.
05:20He even claimed Sasha left the hotel alive.
05:25He wrapped her up in carpet underlay, bedding, whatever he could find in the hotel, put her
05:33in a wheelie bin, wheeled her outside into the alleyway, tipped her out into the back
05:37alleyway and set her on fire.
05:41And then he tried to dispose of items of her clothes, her shoes and her jewellery.
05:48He tried to flush her jewellery down the toilet, he'd thrown her shoes in the bin, he'd tried
05:54to just, you know, dispose of everything but the police found it all later.
06:00They said that the only way they even managed to identify her was via DNA from her toothbrush
06:05because her injuries were so severe.
06:08Sasha's parents were worried when their daughter didn't return home and they went out looking
06:13for her.
06:14They even called by the hotel and unknowingly came face to face with the killer.
06:24But police discovered an overwhelming amount of evidence against Minto and his lies quickly
06:30unravelled.
06:32Officers very quickly found blood spattering on his clothing, I think his behaviour afterwards
06:38was very unusual and obviously because it was so horrific, I think they went the extra
06:46mile to make sure they got the right man for this.
06:50A two-week trial took place at Preston Crown Court.
06:54Even hardened court reporters, used to hearing about the very worst crimes, found the details
07:00hard to stomach.
07:01But for Sasha's family, this trial was traumatic in a way that is impossible to comprehend.
07:10It's not just grief, like, it's more than grief because it's trauma, like, you've just
07:19literally sat there and heard how, well, you know, from my perspective, my little sister
07:24and that was hard enough, you know, how my little sister was literally tortured.
07:29She was terrified, you know, was she shouting out for us, was she shouting out for her mum
07:33and dad?
07:34Probably, you know, she was screaming for help undoubtedly.
07:36She fought for her life and she wasn't even five foot tall, she was tiny.
07:41The true extent of how much Sasha had suffered was revealed to the family for the first time.
07:48When Sasha died, we were given very, very minimal information about her death because
07:55it was all evidence and the police have to be careful because that's their case.
08:00If they tell the family their whole case and, you know, families are grieving, you know,
08:04you can't expect families to keep things quiet like the police keep the things quiet because
08:09you just can't ask a family to do that, the grieving.
08:12And so when you're in court and you're hearing all that evidence, you're finding out that
08:16evidence at the same time as everybody else, so you're hearing exactly what happened to
08:22Sasha, how much she suffered, you know, what he did to her, you're seeing him when he's
08:27standing up there giving evidence and what he was saying about her and the descriptions
08:31he gave was horrific.
08:32This was the worst case I think I've ever covered.
08:36I think it was so harrowing that we made the decision that we would share the duty of going
08:42to court to hear the evidence.
08:44So another reporter also went as well just to give a little bit of relief from it because
08:51as I say, you know, the detail was so awful and obviously the jury needs to hear that
08:56in its full capacity to be able to make the right decision and I think to hear that day
09:03in and day out, I mean, the police advise the family not to go on certain days just
09:08because they just would never be able to get that level of detail out of their mind.
09:14At the end of the two-week trial, David Minto was found guilty of Sasha's murder and sentenced
09:21to 35 years in prison.
09:24He will be eligible for parole in 2048, but some feel that Minto got off rather lightly
09:31considering the depravity of his crimes and his lack of remorse.
09:36I don't think, well, I mean, initially I think it felt like justice had been served, that
09:41was the very least he deserved, but it still was only 35 years.
09:49From what happened to Sasha, she was gone and nothing was ever going to bring her back
09:55or the opportunities that she would have had back, so I think it was sort of like a bittersweet
10:01sort of, yes, the jury got the right decision, yes, he was sentenced for as long as he could,
10:07but the fact that he could at some point be eligible for parole and he could get out,
10:13you know, that doesn't sit well.
10:15He didn't just lose his temper by being rejected by Sasha, he showed pure evilness in the attack
10:23that he put on her and he was so much bigger than her, you know, she was tiny and, you
10:28know, the ferocity of it and the brutality of it, like, on one of the stab wounds to
10:33the back of the head, the knife was bent because he'd hit her that hard and her skull
10:37was chipped because he'd gone at her that hard, but then not only that, you know, she's
10:43lying there, she's bled out, she's got no blood left in her body, so you can only imagine
10:48how much blood is there, he then takes her body and rapes her, sorry, but how do you
10:53come back from that?
10:54It's fair to say that Sasha's family were severely traumatised by the awful things they
10:59saw and heard during the two-week trial.
11:02It's broken the family because there's a piece, you know, there's a piece, there's
11:07a person missing.
11:08And in her sister Katie's words, they had no fight left in them to appeal the 35-year
11:14sentence, even though they did feel it was too lenient.
11:22David Minto's probably going to get out one day and any vulnerable female will not be
11:28safe when he does get out.
11:30I mean, of all the cases I've ever sat through, this is the one where I thought if somebody
11:34was going to get a whole life term and never get out, this was it.
11:39My sister was murdered and I'm a big sister and I didn't save her, but now I've failed
11:42my mum as well because I promised my mum.
12:00Jane Marsden died fighting to keep her daughter's killer behind bars.
12:15Her aim was to change a law that currently says a grieving family only has 28 days to
12:20appeal a lenient sentence.
12:23The family's petition managed to get 14,894 signatures, but sadly this was a long way
12:31from the 100,000 needed to get Sasha's law debated in Parliament.
12:38Jane passed away early in 2024, thinking that the man who tortured her daughter to death
12:45in a most brutal and calculating way may someday be free and could kill again.
12:53Now Sasha's sister, bereaved Katie Brett, carries on that campaign.
12:59Every day she'd wake up and the first thing she'd check is the petition and even if there
13:03was one signature, you know, every time, you know, one signature, oh, we've got another
13:08signature.
13:09She knew exactly how many signatures we had and with the first petition and it was going
13:13up in the thousands and it was going up really quickly and I wish I'd have got her reaction.
13:18You know, every time it hit another thousand, she was punching the air, yes, yes, yes.
13:24Like it meant so much to her and I just wish I'd got that reaction because if people could
13:29see how much it meant to her, then, you know, perhaps, you know, they might have, you know,
13:35seen it from a mum's perspective.
13:38Katie did in fact contact the Ministry of Justice in 2023 and she got a response which
13:44confirmed that they have no plans to remove the 28-day limit.
13:50I'm going to read out an excerpt from the letter dated August the 16th.
13:56It reads,
13:57The government recognises that it's important that victims, prosecuting authorities and
14:03members of the public are aware of the unduly lenient sentence scheme ahead of sentencing
14:08hearings where the time limit ordinarily begins.
14:13It goes on to say that since 2019, the Crown Prosecution Service has provided information
14:19about the scheme in letters to bereaved families that are sent out after conviction.
14:25But Katie, along with other campaigners, says this does not take into account the stress
14:32and trauma that families feel during the grieving process.
14:37I mean, how can a family who've lost a child in this case, but, you know, a close loved
14:44one, be able to process all the horrible things that have happened to them, you know, their
14:50final moments through the court case, then have the peace of mind to be able to think
14:57that's not right, I need to, I need to fight this or I need to question this or fight for
15:03a longer sentence within four weeks.
15:05I just don't think that's possible.
15:07I think, you know, the family, you know, suffering deep trauma, you know, they need to be given
15:14more time, you know, and actually, you know, maybe up to a year, I mean, even a year doesn't
15:20seem long enough, you know, if you're dealing with that trauma, I mean, her family will
15:25live with that their whole lives, but definitely a longer term is definitely needed to give
15:31families a voice, to give that, you know, the victim a voice.
15:35And then for the next 28 days, you're not thinking at all, well, I want to go and do
15:39that again.
15:42Because that's what it means, if you appeal that sentence, you do, you know, you have
15:47to pick apart all that evidence, you have to pick apart the whole thing, you have to
15:50look at what the judge has said, you've got to relive it all.
15:53The sentencing guidelines do state, you know, certain sentences for certain offences and
15:57certain aggravating and mitigating factors.
16:00And the judge stated, you know, all the aggravating factors of this case and what he did to Sasha
16:05and it was a sexually motivated murder of a child.
16:10There was sadistic, you know, it was a sexual motive, there was sadistic behaviours there,
16:15the prolonged suffering that Sasha had, the attempts to, you know, destroy her body, the
16:19fact that he raped her, you know, after while she was dead or dying proves that it was,
16:24you know, how could it have not been sexual and it was premeditated.
16:29With this, it was all proven, there was no doubt at all.
16:32So it was, it does meet the criteria for a whole life order and the judge even says in
16:38his sentencing remarks, there is no mitigation, so if there's no mitigation, then there's
16:44no reason why he shouldn't have got that whole life order.
16:47The CPS put the case forward, and it still wasn't referred, but there's no justification
16:53as to why it wasn't referred.
16:54They've said, oh, this case was, the Attorney General's Office have said this case was referred
16:59to us back in 2013 by the CPS, so the CPS must have known that this was an unduly lenient
17:04sentence, but then you're relying on the Attorney General's Office to do the right thing and
17:10they're saying, well, we didn't refer it, but we can't tell you why we didn't refer
17:14it because we don't have a record.
17:17And even in court, he was still lying and he was trying to say that it was somebody
17:21else, it must have been a mystery assailant that came in.
17:24He was trying to say that he found Sasha's dead body at the bottom of the stairs and
17:28because he doesn't like blood, he put her in the bath to wash her and then put her outside
17:32and that he didn't set fire to her.
17:34It's literally laughable if it wasn't real and it wasn't, you know, a real 16-year-old
17:40girl that they were talking about, it's actually laughable that that was his defence.
17:45And then when he, because he was allowed to appeal his sentence, we weren't, but he was,
17:50and his defence for appealing the sentence was, I didn't plan to murder her, I only planned
17:55to rape her.
17:56As it stands, Minto is eligible for parole in 2048.
18:02He will be 57 years old.
18:04Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that he will automatically get out, but those who
18:09are campaigning argue that this cold, calculated killer is likely to offend again if he is
18:15granted parole.
18:18The thought of him getting out and hurting somebody else, that, you know, Sasha, nobody
18:26wanted Sasha to die, you know, Sasha's death can never be justified, it can never be explained,
18:31I'll never be okay with what happened to Sasha, but her death means that somebody, you know,
18:38everybody else is safe from David Minto, there's, he can't hurt anybody else while he's in jail,
18:47you know, children and younger girls are all safe because he's in jail, but if he gets
18:52out, Sasha's died for nothing, because people will not be safe.
18:58Every single rule that's put in place, from MOT in your car, insuring your car, tax, when
19:04you go on planes, all the health and safety, going through check, everything we do in life,
19:08pedestrian crossings, is to do what?
19:11Stop people from getting injured and getting killed.
19:13So if that's the number one priority of any parliament, protecting our way of life, protecting
19:18people, why is it when another human pushes a knife into another soul and murders them,
19:24that it potentially could be out of prison in 20 years when they've took someone's life?
19:28I mean, of all the cases I've ever sat through, this is the one where I thought if somebody
19:32was going to get a whole life term and never get out, this was it.
19:36And the fact that he showed no remorse, despite being, you know, showing evidence that proved
19:42categorically it was him, you know, to not only attack her and sexually abuse her and
19:50to wrap her up in carpet and dump her in an alleyway like she was a piece of rubbish and
19:53set her on fire to try and hide what happened, you know, to front, to answer the door when
19:59her parents came knocking looking for her, to front it out when the police arrived, without
20:04care in the world, just seems so callous, so inhumane, that maybe he, you know, could
20:14he ever be rehabilitated, you know, is a question that, you know, he's asking, I suppose.
20:22I am very strong on this.
20:24If you murder someone or stab someone, whether you like this opinion or not, because unless
20:27you've watched someone bleed out or lost a loved one and that person's still breathing,
20:33I truly believe, bring back death penalty.
20:35Sasha's death has saved people, that's what, you know, that's how we all felt as a family.
20:41Yeah, Sasha died, but, you know, she lost her life and as a result of that, he's locked
20:48up in prison, he can't hurt anybody else.
20:52So you know, it's just, you know, it's just right, isn't it?
20:57Why should he get out when he's done that and be allowed to just kill somebody else
21:03Any murdered child's parent, they would not wish it on anybody else, but if he does get
21:11out, then, you know, he will, I would bet my own life on it, he will attack somebody
21:19else again.
21:20Sasha's murder truly was horrific.
21:24It was every parent's worst nightmare.
21:27Add to that, it destroyed the reputation of the hotel where Minto killed Sasha, bearing
21:34in mind that he was only employed there as a barman and that the owners could never have
21:38imagined what he was capable of doing.
21:41You know, there are other people like him out there and there's just not enough deterrent.
21:47You know, they do what they do and they essentially get away with it, don't they?
21:50They might lose a few years in jail, but they get to live their life and the real victim
21:55has lost their life and they can never come back.
21:57At the end of the day, we're not talking about someone fighting and accidentally killing
22:01someone, that's totally different.
22:02We're not talking about someone accidentally running someone over.
22:04But when you actually take a soul from the planet, it's all for a soul.
22:11Because she should be here.
22:12It's not like she was ill or, you know, there's a reason why she left.
22:17She was taken because of somebody that's evil.
22:20David Minto's probably going to get out one day and any vulnerable female will not be
22:26safe when he does get out.
22:29Katie says she will fight for every person who has been stolen from this world and that
22:34she's doing this to help the other families of murder victims who are experiencing the
22:38same grief.
22:51You don't need to ask me what my mum wanted, because as a pet as any mum, they will know
22:58what they would want if it was their daughter that it happened to.
23:01My sister was murdered and I'm a big sister and I didn't save her, but now I've failed
23:05my mum as well, because I promised my mum.
23:07And are you going to keep on fighting for those signatures?
23:13Yeah, till I'm dead.