Sasha Marsden: David Minto jailed for murder

A hotel barman has been jailed for a minimum of 35 years for the “sexually motivated” murder of a 16-year-old girl who was stabbed to death and then set on fire in an alleyway.

Sasha Marsden was murdered and then set on fire in an alleyway. Picture: PA

David Minto, 23, lured college student Sasha Marsden on the pretence of giving her job as a cleaner at the hotel in Blackpool owned by his girlfriend.

When the youngster rebuffed the advances of the sexual predator she was ferociously attacked from behind with a kitchen knife as she tried to escape.

The defendant stabbed her 58 times to the head, neck and face and then sexually defiled her as she lay dying or was already dead.

In a bid to dispose of any evidence that connected him to Sasha, he set her on fire in an alley behind the murder scene at the Grafton House Hotel in Kirby Road on January 31.

He had wrapped her body in carpet underlay, a duvet cover and a bin liner and set her alight before he returned inside to clean the hotel of blood.

The injuries of the teenager, from Staining, near Blackpool, were so severe she had to be identified by DNA from her toothbrush.

Minto denied her murder and told a jury at Preston Crown Court he last saw Sasha leaving the hotel and that she must have returned while he was upstairs and met her death at the hands of a mystery assailant.

He did admit moving the body in a state of shock but did not set her alight, he claimed.

His version of events was rejected by the jury after less than three hours of deliberation.

Minto showed no emotion as he was jailed for life. He must serve 35 years before he can be considered for parole.