Why did Shawn Seesahai’s Wolverhampton murderers get life sentences with a minimum term

The pair were just 12 years old when they fatally stabbed 19-year-old Shawn Seesahai in the heart with a machete. The teenager suffered a skull fracture as he fell onto Wolverhampton’s Stowalawn playing fields on November 13 last year.

Mr Seesahai’s killers, both now 13, cannot be named because of a court anonymity order.

They were described at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday as “the youngest knife murderers” and are believed to be the youngest defendants convicted of murder in the UK since Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both aged 11, were found guilty in 1993 of killing two-year-old James Bulger.

Shawn, who'd been living in Birmingham, had only been in the UK for about six months, having come over from his home in Anguilla for eye surgery.

High Court judge Mrs Justice Tipples handed life sentences with a minimum term of eight-and-a-half years to each of his killers.

Explaining her reasons for the length of the minimum terms after the boys were taken down, High Court judge Mrs Justice Tipples said the murder was aggravated by the fact it was an attack involving two offenders.

Mitigating factors included the fact the “spur-of-the-moment attack” was not premeditated, and the young age of the defendants, who were told they will remain in separate secure units where they were held on remand during their trial.

The “extremely vulnerable” first defendant, who admitted buying the murder weapon from a friend for £40 around a month before the attack, had been “groomed and exploited” by others, the court heard.

The judge said the first defendant had had “very many adverse childhood experiences” including falling victim to exploitation by criminals and “multiple traumas” in childhood for which he was not responsible.

“I agree with the authors of the (pre-sentence) report that he does not at this stage have the maturity to fully appreciate the consequences of his actions,” the judge added.

The court heard the second defendant had a supportive and loving relationship with his parents and was not previously known to the police.

‘Should have been enjoying their childhood’

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said the two killers “should have been enjoying their childhood rather than arming themselves with a machete and killing an innocent person”.

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.”