Youngest ever knife killers in Britain, at 12, face sentencing for brutal machete attack

THE heartbroken family of a teenager murdered by Britain’s youngest ever knife killers have told how they are haunted by the terror he must have felt as he was chased to his death.

Shawn Seesahai, 19, was attacked for “no reason at all” by a pair of machete-wielding 12-year-old boys as he walked across a Wolverhampton park.

In a victim impact statement read to the judge due to sentence the evil duo, relatives of Anguilla-born Shawn Seesahai described the murder as “tragic, unexpected and senseless.

The first day of a two-day sentencing hearing at Nottingham Crown Court was told how the cowardly defendants – who blamed each other at their trial – still deny being responsible for the murder last November.

Shawn died of devastating injuries after being stabbed in the heart and suffering a skull fracture on Wolverhampton’s Stowlawn playing fields.

A month-long trial heard how the unsuspecting victim had initially been shoulder-barged by the smaller of the two boys, who “often” carried a machete with a 42.5cm-long blade, before being punched, kicked, stamped on and “chopped” at with the deadly blade.

A friend who was with Shawn told how they both attempted to run for their lives but Shawn tragically stumbled leaving him at the mercy of the ferocious killers.

The duo are believed to be the youngest defendants convicted of murder in Britain since Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both then aged 11, were found guilty in 1993 of killing two-year-old James Bulger.

Mrs Justice Tipples, who is due to specify a minimum term and pass mandatory life sentences on Friday morning, was told there was “little precedent” for the case as the boys are understood to be the country’s youngest ever knife murderers.

The boys – now 13- were allowed to leave the dock and sit beside relatives on the back row of the court as a family victim impact statement was read to the court by the Government of Anguilla’s international representative Dorothea Hodge.

Relatives of Shawn, who were forced to take out a loan to travel to the UK to view the 20-day trial, are watching the two-day sentencing hearing via a videolink.

In their statement they said: “Losing a child is a parent’s worst nightmare. It has left a huge hole in the pit of our stomach which nothing can fill, we are devastated as a family, totally heartbroken and confused.”

The statement, which came from parents Suresh and Maneshwary and sister Shana, added: “None of us have had an unbroken night’s sleep since Shawn was taken from us.

“Every time I close my eyes all I can think about are what his last moments were and how scared he must have been. It continually breaks my heart.

“The impact on us as a family is devastating, it’s hard to believe that we will ever come to terms with what has happened.”

Mrs Justice Tipples ruled following the trial that the defendants cannot be identified because of concerns surrounding their welfare.

During legal submissions on Thursday, the court was told the starting point for the minimum term to be imposed on both boys is set by sentencing guidelines at 13 years.

Michelle Heeley KC, prosecuting, argued the case was aggravated by the fact that one of the defendants had admitted he “regularly” carried the machete, and that fact that two offenders had jointly attacked one victim.

One of the boys admitted possession of the knife prior to the trial, while the other was found guilty of the same charge when they were both unanimously convicted of murder on June 10.

Both boys claimed the other had inflicted four wounds with the machete, after a dispute about sitting on a park bench.

Rachel Brand KC, defending the boy who admitted buying and owning the machete, told the court during mitigation: “He lacked, as a child, foresight of the consequences of his actions, and lacked, as a child, the ability to regulate his behaviour in the same way adults do.”

Paul Lewis KC, defending the other boy, said: “The prospects of rehabilitation in his case, we submit, are excellent.

“He had never been involved in any sort of criminality before. This was a one-off incident that was not premeditated – over in seconds – with admittedly tragic results.”