10 June 2024 , 17:56
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Both boys, who cannot be named because of their ages, have been found guilty of murdering 19-year-old Shawn Seesahai at Wolverhampton’s Stowlawn playing fields after pointing the finger at each other
Two 12-year-old boys have been found guilty of the murder of 19-year-old Shawn Seesahai after a trial at Nottingham Crown Court.
Jurors unanimously convicted the youths, who are believed to be the youngest boys to have committed a knife-related murder in the UK, on Monday.
A month-long trial at Nottingham Crown Court was told Mr Seesahai was shoulder-barged by the smaller of the two defendants, who “often” carried a machete with a 42.5cm-long blade, before being 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 19-year-old Mr Seesahai stumbled as he tried to flee from the boys on Wolverhampton’s Stowlawn playing fields on November 13 last year.
Family members of both the victim and the defendants cried and hugged each other in the public gallery as the jurors found both boys guilty of murder and one guilty of possessing a bladed article.
In an interview released after the verdicts, Mr Seesahai’s parents Suresh and Maneshwary have said they will never be able to get over the loss of their 19-year-old son who always told them he would "shine" and take care of them.
Speaking for the first time since their son was murdered, Suresh Seesahai said he feels sorry for the parents of the killers and only hopes that "justice" is served for his son.
Both boys, who cannot be named because of their ages, were charged with murdering Mr Seesahai after pointing the finger at each other. The youth seen with blood on his hand admitted possession of a machete, but denied the attack, while the other denied both.
The prosecution alleged both boys acted together in murdering Mr Seesahai, originally from Anguilla but living in Birmingham, after one of them "shoulder-brushed" him and told the victim and his friend to "keep stepping". A teenage girl who took the stand at Nottingham crown court in May told how she had been sitting on a park bench with the two defendants when Mr Seesahai was approached them saying, "yo move, move" and smiled at his friend.
The youth who admitted possessing a machete asked him why and stood up, the girl aged in her early teens told the court. Answering questions from Rachel Brand KC, defending the boy alleged to have been seen with blood on his hand, the girl said she had then picked up the machete, which was still in its cover, herself.
The teenager said the weapon was grabbed from her by the boy who owned the knife, who was then put in a headlock by the victim, before the knife was passed to the other boy, who she saw hitting the man with it. She said: "The man let go (of the boy in a headlock) and then (the other defendant) hit him."
The whole incident happened very quickly, the schoolgirl told the court, as she agreed with the suggestion that her two police interviews had contained "two completely different stories". She gave accounts of what happened in police interviews a day after the incident, and a month afterward.
The witness said the boy she saw with blood on his hand had bought the knife, "often" carried it, and had brought it to her house around a month before the alleged murder. During cross-examination by Paul Lewis KC, the witness denied telling lies to "cover up" for the boy who owned the knife.
She said of the machete: "It was thin, and then it went into thick and obviously had a point at the end. I never took notice of it. He said something to do with that he got it so... anyone like ever attacked him, he can use that to defend himself."