Two 12-year-old boys who have become the youngest murderers since James Bulger’s killers could now be named.
A judge will now consider whether to name the boys after a jury unanimously found them guilty of murdering 19-year-old Shawn Seesahai in a park in Wolverhampton.
The teenager, who was originally from Anguilla in the Caribbean, had travelled to the UK to receive treatment for cataracts, and had been discussing Christmas plans with a friend when he was punched, kicked, stamped on and “chopped” with the weapon.
Prosecutors told Nottingham Crown Court that Seesahai was “utterly defenceless”, “offered no violence” and had “done nothing to offend the two boys”, who are believed to be the youngest people to be convicted of a knife crime murder.
Seesahai told his friend to run but fell as he tried to flee himself. The fatal wound to his back was more than 20cm deep and the machete “almost came out” of his chest after going “through his heart”.
The pair are 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. They had been 10 when they committed the murder.
The death of James shocked the nation after the toddler was abducted from a shopping centre in Bootle before his mutilated body was found two days later. Venables and Thompson are the youngest convicted murderers in modern British history and were later given new identities.
Children appearing in youth or crown courts in England – whether as a victim, witness or defendant – generally cannot be identified if they are under 18.
However, anonymity orders can be lifted by judges if they are below this age and have been convicted of serious crimes, as long as it is considered to be in the public interest.
Mrs Justice Amanda Tipples, who presided over the murder trial, has indicated that she will hear representations from the press on whether to name the killers at a later hearing.
Officers investigating Seesahai’s murder said they became aware early on of the age of the defendants, which Det Insp Damian Forrest of West Midlands police described as “deeply shocking”.
He added: “Sadly Shawn’s death is yet another reminder of how carrying weapons can have life-changing consequences for all those involved, and their loved ones, forever.”
One of his killers had posed for a picture with the nearly 17 inch-long (42.5cm) blade used in the killing.
Even after he was arrested the weapons-obsessed schoolboy drew pictures of knives while in custody.
In an interview released after the verdicts, Seesahai’s parents Suresh Seesahai, and mother, Maneshwary, issued a warning to parents that children could be involved in knife crime.
Mr Seesahai said: “I don’t think it’s a good thing that a child is carrying a machete, not even a knife, he’s just a kid.
“Pay attention to your kids, if you see them doing something wrong then tell them. Check their room, sometimes you don’t know what’s in there, so check it as parents.
“This world is a different world, kids are dangerous now. If we don’t pay attention to them this will keep happening.”
Aspiring engineer’s future taken away by remorseless attackers
By Neil Johnston, Senior News Reporter
Shawn Seesahai had only come to the UK for a cataract operation when he became the innocent victim to two of Britain’s youngest ever killers.
After successful eye surgery, the 19-year-old aspiring engineer originally from Anguilla in the Caribbean, had started to think about the future and was discussing plans for Christmas when he was hacked to death by two 12-year-olds in a Wolverhampton park.
His two attackers, who cannot be named because of their age, blamed the murder on each other but jurors unanimously found them both guilty yesterday.
The pair have become the youngest people to be convicted of murder since Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were detained over the torture and murder of James Bulger in 1993, who were found guilty at the age of 11.
Yesterday’s guilty verdict also makes the youths the youngest boys to have committed a knife-related murder in the UK.
Mrs Justice Tipples, the judge, has indicated that she will hear representations from the press on whether to name the killers at a later hearing ahead of sentencing.
During the month-long trial, jurors heard horrific details of how Seesahai was murdered in November 2023 after a chance encounter with his killers in Stowlawn playing fields in East Park, Wolverhampton.
Seesahai, who loved basketball, cricket, and music, lived in Handsworth in Birmingham but had travelled to the neighbouring city for the day with friends and was enjoying a Red Bull energy drink and discussing Christmas plans when he was brutally attacked.
Completely unprovoked, Seesahai only had time to tell friend Derron Harrigan to “run” when he saw one of the youths pull out the 42.5cm machete.
He was shoulder-barged by the smaller of the two defendants, who “often” carried the machete, before being punched, kicked, stamped on and “chopped” at with the weapon.
Mr Harrigan told Nottingham Crown Court how they had attempted to flee when the youth “reached for his blade and Shawn shouted ‘run bro’”.
“We started to run but Shawn tripped,” he said. “I was running for my life – I couldn’t stay there and watch.”
As he fled he saw his friend on the floor surrounded by the defendants. The fatal wound to his back was more than 20cm deep and the blade went through his heart and almost came out of his chest.
He was pronounced dead at 9.11pm after police and paramedics were called to the scene.
The court was told that Seesahai was “utterly defenceless” and was “a man who had done nothing wrong, a man with no weapon”.
During the trial, one of the boys claimed Seesahai had told them to move from the bench they were sitting on.
As the verdict was read yesterday, family members of both Seesahai and the defendants cried and hugged each other in the public gallery.
The West Midlands has become the country’s knife crime capital with official statistics showing that the force had the highest number of offences per head of population in England and Wales in the year to December 2023, ahead of the Metropolitan Police.
Overall figures show that knife crime rose by 7 per cent in England and Wales in the year to December 2023, compared with the previous 12 months.
Knife-enabled homicides stood at 239 last year, broadly unchanged on the 235 recorded in 2022 and also lower than pre-pandemic figures.
However, in the year to March 2023, 82 per cent of teenage homicide victims were killed with a knife, up from 73 per cent in the previous year.
Jurors heard that the youths, one of whom was obsessed with knives, launched the attack with no provocation,
Michelle Heeley KC , prosecuting, said the weapon had been taken out of one of the boys’ trousers and was made available to be used “despite the fact Shawn Seesahai and his friends had offered no violence, nor done anything to offend [the youths]”.
Although Mr Harrigan did not see the “vicious attack” that ensued, Ms Heeley said a teenage girl who had been with the 12 year-olds told police that both had been in possession of the machete and one often carried it.
The witness described seeing one boy pick up the machete and hold it in the air.
Ms Heeley added: “She told police she saw [a defendant] using the machete on Seesahai’s legs, and also saw [the other defendant] punching and stamping on his head.
“The prosecution say the two boys were engaged in a joint attack upon a man who had done nothing wrong, a man with no weapon, who was utterly defenceless on the ground.
“We say that these two boys were acting together and meant to kill Seesahai, at the very least they intended to cause really serious harm.”
She added: “As a result of their actions, Shawn Seesahai died at the scene. He had been hit so hard to the skull with the machete that a piece of bone had actually come away.
“He had slash wounds on his leg and most significantly he had an injury from the machete that went through his body all the way from his back, through his ribs and into his heart.”
After refusing to answer police questions in the aftermath of the murder, the boys both gave evidence to jurors, blaming each other for inflicting the fatal blow.
Jurors heard one of the defendants was found to have 11 areas of blood staining on his clothing.
The boy was also seen with blood on his hands in the aftermath of the murder, while his friend had a small blood stain on his right trainer.
As well as failing to summon help for Seesahai, the youths showed no remorse for what they had done in the 24 hours before their arrest, with one cleaning the machete with bleach and hiding it under his bed.
They told the court they both played video games in the hours after the killing, claiming they did not know Seesahai had died until the following day.
Mrs Justice Tipples thanked the jury at the High Court for their “hard work and determination” in what had been a “tragic and distressing case” after their verdicts were delivered on Monday afternoon.
In an interview released after the verdicts, Seesahai’s parents, Suresh and Maneshwary, said they would never be able to get over the loss of their son, who always told them he would “shine” and take care of them.
They questioned how a child so young could have a weapon like a machete with them as they walked the streets.
Suresh Seesahai said: “This world is a different world, kids are dangerous now. If we don’t pay attention to them this will keep happening.”
His wife added: “Twelve-year-old kids should be at home doing school work and then going to bed. I have two children and at 7.30pm they had to go to bed because they have to follow the rules of the house.
“He didn’t deserve what happened, I don’t have much to say about it. I just want justice.”
Mr Seesahai added that they were now hoping for justice when his killers were sentenced in July.
“Justice must be done. I want them to have the right sentence, they don’t have to be locked up for life, I just want it to be fair. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we’ll get the justice we’ve come here for.”
