Britain's youngest knife murderers jailed for life after machete attack
by Stephen Topping · Manchester Evening NewsTwo teenage boys who were 12 years old when they killed a man with a machete have been handed life sentences. The pair, who are Britain’s youngest knife murderers, have both been sentenced this morning (September 27) over the murder of Shawn Seesahai.
The two boys, now aged 13, blamed each other for the killing during a trial at Nottingham Crown Court. But the pair were both found guilty of killing 19-year-old Mr Seesahai, in Wolverhampton.
Anguilla-born Mr Seesahai died after being stabbed in the heart and suffering a skull fracture on Wolverhampton’s Stowlawn playing fields last November 13. A month-long trial was told that Mr Seesahai was shoulder-barged by the smaller of the two defendants, who 'often' carried a machete with a 42.5cm-long blade.
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He was then 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 Mr Seesahai stumbled as he tried to flee from the boys.
The two defendants are believed to be the youngest 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. They are the believed to be the youngest to have killed someone using a knife.
(Image: BPM MEDIA)
In a statement read in court, relatives of 'beloved son and brother' Mr Seesahai described the murder as 'tragic, unexpected and senseless'. They added: "As a family we are struggling in so many ways since Shawn was taken from us, especially in the horrific way in which he was taken.
“Losing a child is a parent’s worst nightmare. To put it all down in a statement on how it has impacted our lives would take more than a day to read. 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 judge, Mrs Justice Tipples, was told there was 'little precedent' for the case prior to handing the life sentences. The two boys were jailed for a minimum term of eight years and six months.