Two boys thought to be Britain’s youngest knife killers who stabbed a stranger to death in a “horrific and shocking” machete murder have each been handed life sentences.
The killers, both aged 12 at the time of the incident but now 13, were found guilty in June of stabbing 19-year-old Shawn Seesahai in the heart in a random and “senseless” attack on Wolverhampton’s Stowlawn playing fields on 13 November last year.
The boys, who cannot be named because of a court anonymity order, are believed to be the youngest defendants convicted of murder in Britain since Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both aged 11, were found guilty in 1993 of killing two-year-old James Bulger.
Ms Justice Tipples sentenced the pair, both from Wolverhampton, to life in detention with a minimum term of eight years and six months at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday following a two-day hearing.
Passing sentence, the High Court judge told the defendants: “What you both did is horrific and shocking.
“You did not know Shawn, he was a stranger to you. You were both out in Wolverhampton with a machete in your possession. You both killed Shawn in an attack that lasted less than a minute when he asked you to move from a bench ... I am sure from the injuries that Shawn suffered that you intended to kill him.
“Shawn did not deserve to be attacked, Shawn did not deserve to die.”
She also told the pair they have caused “never-ending grief” to Seesahai’s loved ones, describing the 19-year-old as “a young man loved by his family with his future ahead of him”. She added: “His mother has described him as a brave soul who was generous and compassionate.”
Seesahai’s family told the court on Thursday that they are haunted by thoughts of how scared he must have been when he was killed.
In a victim impact statement read by the government of Anguilla’s international representative Dorothea Hodge, relatives described the Anguilla-born teenager’s murder as tragic, unexpected and senseless, and having been committed “for no reason at all”.
A month-long trial was told that Seesahai was shoulder-barged by the smaller of the two defendants, who “often” carried a machete with a 42.5cm-long blade, before being punched, kicked, stamped on and “chopped” at with the weapon.
The victim’s friend told the trial he was forced to run for his life but the 19-year-old stumbled as he tried to flee from the boys.
The defendants inflicted a 23cm-deep wound that almost passed all the way through Seesahai’s body. The victim was also left with a fractured skull after the attack.
Family members of both Seesahai and the defendants cried and hugged each other as jurors found both boys guilty of murder and one guilty of possessing a bladed article, after the other admitted possession of the knife prior to the trial.
The pair blamed each other for inflicting four wounds with the machete, after a dispute with the victim about sitting on a park bench.
Both youths were allowed to leave the dock and sit in the back row of the court benches on Friday as Ms Justice Tipples began her sentencing by acknowledging the sentence being passed would be no comfort to the victim’s family.
She also told the defendants: “You will both have to live with the consequences of your actions for the rest of your lives.”
She said she could not be sure who inflicted the fatal wound but that did not matter, telling the pair: “You acted together to kill him and you are both responsible for his death.”
In an interview released after the verdicts, Seesahai’s parents Suresh and Maneshwary said they will never be able to get over the loss of their son who always told them he would “shine” and take care of them.
A senior West Midlands Police officer said the murder of Seesahai is both “shocking and saddening” as she told of the “devastating” impact of knife crime.
Chief superintendent Kim Madill, speaking outside Nottingham Crown Court after the sentencing, said: “Shawn was only 19 when his life was taken at the hands of two boys, then aged just 12, who had armed themselves with a machete.
“That reality has had a huge impact on us all, it is both shocking and saddening. The impact of knife crime is devastating no matter where you live in the country, this is an issue that affects us all.
“Much work has been done and we have had successes in some areas, however, this is clearly not enough.
“We are listening to families affected by knife crime and acting on their feedback to see what more we can do with partners to stop the devastation caused by knife crime.
“Our responsibility is to work together with partners to understand why children and young people think it is OK to carry weapons and take further action to stop this extremely dangerous behaviour.”
Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson Jonathan Roe said: “As prosecutors, we often deal with harrowing cases, but this case is particularly distressing due to the complete senselessness and devastating consequences of the defendants’ actions.
“The defendants at the age of 12 should have been enjoying their childhood rather than arming themselves with a machete and killing an innocent person.
“Shawn Seesahai lost his life in a horrifically cruel way.
“I hope today’s sentencing serves as a reminder of the dangers of carrying machetes.
“Shawn’s family have shown remarkable strength and dignity in the aftermath of such a tragedy and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.”
