Two 12-year-old boys guilty of machete attack on random teenager in Wolverhampton park

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Two 12-year-old boys who mercilessly stabbed a “completely defenceless” teenager to death with a machete before reading newspaper articles about his death have been found guilty of murder.

Shawn Seesahai, 19, was unarmed as he and his friend walked across Stowlawn playing fields in Wolverhampton on November 13 last year.

Jurors heard that one of the defendants regularly carried a machete and that the two were seen “passing it back and forth to each other” before carrying out the fatal attack.

Although Mr Seeshai did nothing to offend his killers, he was shoulder-butted and then struck on the skull so hard that a piece of bone broke off. He also suffered a fatal stab wound 23 cm deep that penetrated most of his body.

Both defendants, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had screenshots of knives on their phones and had researched articles about the murder. One of them had also searched online for “how many criminal records do you need to have to leave the country” on November 14, the day after the attack.

On Monday, the jury unanimously found the teenagers guilty. They are believed to be the youngest defendants to be convicted of murder in Britain since 11-year-olds Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were found guilty of killing two-year-old James Bulger in 1993.

Nottingham Crown Court heard that Mr Seesahai, who lived in Handsworth, near Birmingham, but was originally from Anguilla in the Caribbean, had travelled to the UK to undergo treatment for cataracts.

On 13 November, he travelled to Wolverhampton with friends. The two 12-year-olds had been there together since 4.10 p.m. and met two girls of about the same age who are acting as witnesses in the case.

After sitting on a bench with a friend for a while and walking near basketball courts, the court heard how Mr Seesahai and his friend “got into it” with the defendants as the boys passed the machete back and forth, with one of them commenting: “Keep it up.”

The weapon was taken from the trousers of one of the boys and prepared for use, even though Mr Seesahai had not used any force.

His friend, who was with him at the time of the attack, told police that one of the boys intentionally brushed his victim with his shoulder before pulling out the gun and launching the attack.

Michelle Heeley KC told the court: “The prosecution says the two boys acted together to attack a man who had done nothing wrong, an unarmed man who was lying on the ground completely defenceless.”

“We are saying that these two boys acted together and intended to kill Mr Seesahai, at least they had the intention to cause him really serious harm.

“As a result of their actions, Shawn Seesahai died at the scene. He had been hit on the skull with the machete so hard that a piece of bone had actually broken off.

“He had cuts on his leg and, most seriously, a machete wound that had pierced his body from his back, through his ribs, to his heart.”

After the murder, Mr Seesahai’s friend called the police. They arrived and began to resuscitate his body. However, due to the severity of his injuries, it was clear that he was already dead.

The two boys denied the allegations and blamed each other for his death. One of them admitted to being in possession of the machete used in the attack.

In an interview published after the verdict, Seesahai’s parents Suresh and Maneshwary said they will never get over the loss of their 19-year-old son, who had always told them he would “shine” and take care of them.

Speaking for the first time since their son’s murder, Suresh Seesahai said he sympathised with the killers’ parents and hoped only that his son would get “justice”.

Detective Inspector Damian Forrest, who led the investigation, said: “The weapon was a large machete, which is something that no one should own unless they need it as a work tool.”

“Originally it was, of course, a gardening tool.

“Although the facts of this case do not allow us to say with certainty how the suspects came into possession of the weapon, there is evidence that one of them had attempted to purchase knives online.”

Further information on this breaking news will follow…