Shawn Seesahai: Boys, 12, found guilty of murdering 19-year-old in machete attack
Two 12-year-old boys are thought to have become the youngest knife murderers in the UK after being found guilty of killing a 19-year-old in a machete attack.
Warning: This story contains details readers may find distressing
On Monday, jurors unanimously convicted the pair, who are believed to be 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.
Shawn Seesahai, 19, died after the attack on 13 November last year.
He was struck on his back, legs and skull. The fatal wound to his back was more than 20cm deep and “almost came out” of his chest after going “through his heart”.
Two 12-year-old boys denied murdering Mr Seesahai but prosecutors said they were jointly responsible for the savage attack.
An image sent on Snapchat of one of the defendants holding the machete
Following the verdict, the detective who led the hunt said his experienced team were left in shock at the age of the killers.
“I have been a police officer for 20 years and this isn’t the first time I’ve been out to a young man who has lost his life in a really violent way,” said Detective Inspector Damian Forrest, of West Midlands Police.
“But to then find out that two 12-year-olds were responsible was shocking and made us all on the investigation team stop and pause and think about things.
“But I have got a really professional team with lots of experience and we gathered our thoughts, adapted our policies and our processes appropriately, and carried on with the investigation from there.”
Mr Seesahai, originally from Anguilla in the Caribbean, had been staying in Birmingham while recovering from cataract surgery.
He and a friend had walked to a park in Wolverhampton where they encountered a group of children.
Prosecutors said despite the fact Mr Seesahai had “offered no violence, nor done anything to offend”, he became the victim of a brutal attack.
Neither boy can be named because of their age.
Shawn Seesahai was attacked with a machete in a park in Wolverhampton. Pic: West Midlands Police
Unprovoked savagery
Prosecutors said one of the boys deliberately “shoulder brushed” Mr Seesahai that evening and then pulled a machete from his trousers.
Mr Seesahai’s friend managed to escape but Mr Seesahai ended up on the floor where prosecutors say he was punched, kicked and knifed by the two boys.
He was hit so hard to the skull with the machete that a “piece of bone had come away”.
He also sustained slash wounds to his leg and, most significantly, an injury from the machete that entered his body from his back, went through his ribs and into his heart.
“These two boys 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,” said Michelle Heeley KC.
Mr Seesahai’s mother Manashwary described her son as “very loving”.
“He’s always there for us, a very protected child. He helped his father [at work] with all the tools, he helped me [at] home with the chores, he loved to do that.”
Shawn’s father Suresh says his son used to help him with his work in construction.
“He was always with me, from the time he was born and growing up. When he’d have been around 16 he started to work with me. Whatsoever he knew that I’d need help [with] he’d always be there for me.”
Shawn Seesahai’s parents Suresh and Manashwary Seesahai
‘This world is a different world’
Mr Seesahai’s parents said Shawn had wanted to build a life in the UK and pursue a career in engineering. They said he was recovering well from his operation and the family had planned to join him in the UK so they could all be together.
Mrs Seesahai says her son was ambitious.
“He didn’t finish school, so after he came here and finished the eye surgery, he said when he felt better he’d finish off school and have his dream.”
“He’d always say ‘Mom, I want to work, I want my own house, I want my own car.’ He’d always say ‘Mom, I will be shining’.”
Mr Seesahai’s father spoke of the need for parents to be more aware of what their children might be up to.
“You don’t know what these kids have. This world is a different world. Kids are dangerous now and if we don’t pay attention to our kids it will happen every day.”
Police at the scene in November last year
Defendants blamed each other
Both boys blamed each other for the attack. One of them admitted to possessing the weapon that was used.
He was the first to give evidence in court and said that he and his co-accused had been sitting on a bench in the park with a female friend when they were approached by Mr Seesahai and another man.
He said Mr Seesahai towered over them and told them to “move from here”.
He said he told Mr Seesahai’s companion to “get your friend out of my face”.
The boy said Mr Seesahai grabbed him in a headlock and that his co-defendant ended up holding the machete and “side-stepped” towards them.
“Shawn let me out of the headlock and started running and then his shoe came off, and then he tripped,” he said.
The boy said both defendants ran after Mr Seesahai and the other 12-year-old then began striking his legs with the knife.
The first defendant said he told his friend to stop and didn’t realise that Mr Seesahai had been stabbed in the back.
He said that after the attack he had retrieved the knife.
The machete found by police under one of the boy’s beds. Pic: West Midlands Police
Machete discovery
Police later found the machete under his bed. He said he had purchased the weapon for £40 a couple of months before the killing.
He used bleach to clean the blood-stained knife, saying he got the idea from a music video, before hiding it under his bed.
The second 12-year-old gave a very different account, claiming his friend had stabbed Mr Seesahai and that he had been “nowhere near” him during the attack. He also denied having the machete in his own hands as the attack unfolded.
He told the court he had pushed Mr Seesahai off his friend, at which point the 19-year-old “grabbed on” to him, forcing them both to the floor.
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Bloody attack
“I fell on the concrete,” he said. “Shawn fell on the grass.”
He said his co-defendant then ran after Mr Seesahai, who tripped when his shoe came off, and stabbed him more than once.
He said his friend had blood “all over his hands” and on the cuff of his fleece.
When police seized the boys’ phones they found photos of knives.
The 12-year-old who had purchased the machete said he had sent photos showing himself holding the weapon because he “thought it was cool”.
The boys have been held in secure accommodation since the attack.
Jonathan Roe, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS West Midlands, said: “This was a horrifying and random act of brutality, perpetrated by two 12-year-olds who should not have been spending their time arming themselves with a machete and preparing to take a life.
“Today’s conviction should send a clear message to those who feel it appropriate to arm themselves with knives or blades – no matter how you may try to justify it, you will face the consequences of your actions.”
Veterans are set to join the King for a VE Day tea party today as the prime minister has paid tribute to the “selfless dedication” of the war generation.
Among them will be a 99-year-old who took part in the D-Day landings and a 100-year-old woman who worked in the Special Operations Executive, known as Churchill’s Secret Army.
Director general of the Royal British Legion, Mark Atkinson, said the charity was “proud” to be taking a place “at the heart of these national celebrations and commemorations” on the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
He said it would be “one of our last opportunities as a nation to pay tribute to those veterans still with us today”.
Evacuees from World War Two and veterans who were still in active conflict after VE Day are among the other guests set to attend the tea party, which will take place in the presence of the King and other members of the Royal Family.
The Royal Family will watch a military procession and flypast on Monday. File pic: PA
At 12pm, the Royal Family will observe a military procession, followed by a flypast.
It will be the first major VE Day anniversary without any of the royals who stood on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on the day victory in Europe was declared, after the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
‘Not just for Britain’
The celebrations come as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer praised veterans for their “selfless dedication” and thanked them for a “debt that can never fully be repaid” in an open letter ahead of VE Day.
He said the stories which will be heard this week from those who fought in the Second World War would be a reminder that the victory “was not just for Britain” but was also “a victory for good against the assembled forces of hatred, tyranny and evil”.
Sir Keir said the WW2 veterans “represent the best of who we are” and that without their service “the freedom, peace and joy that these celebrations embody, would not be possible”.
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VE Day veteran tells Sky News what the atmosphere was like when WWII was finally declared over in Europe
Personnel from NATO allies the US, France and Germany will be among those taking part in the procession in London.
The commemorations will begin with the words of Sir Winston Churchill‘s 1945 victory speech, spoken by actor Timothy Spall.
Thousands of people are expected to line the streets of the capital to witness the celebrations.
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On the anniversary itself on Thursday, marking exactly 80 years since the Allies formally accepted Germany’s surrender, a service of commemoration will be held at Westminster Abbey, to include a national two minutes’ silence.
Pubs across England and Wales, which usually close at 11pm, will also stay open for an extra two hours to allow punters more time to celebrate.
Eight men have been arrested by the Metropolitan Police in two unconnected but “significant” terrorism investigations.
In one operation on Saturday, counter-terror officers arrested five men – four of whom are Iranian nationals – as they swooped in on various locations around the country. All are in police custody.
The Met said the arrests related to a “suspected plot to target a specific premises”.
In an update shortly after midnight, the force said: “Officers have been in contact with the affected site to make them aware and provide relevant advice and support, but for operational reasons, we are not able to provide further information at this time.”
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “Counter-terrorism policing, supported by police and colleagues from across the country, have conducted arrests in two really significant operations, both of which have been designed to keep the public safe from threats.
“There are several hundred officers and staff working on this investigation, and we will work very hard to ensure we understand the threats to the wider public.”
He refused to say if the plot was related to Israel, but described it as “certainly significant” and said “it is unusual for us to conduct this scale of activity”.
He also asked the public to “avoid speculation and some of the things that are being posted online”.
MI5 director general Ken McCallum said in October that the intelligence agency had responded to 20 “potentially lethal” Iran-backed plots since 2022. He warned of the risk of an “increase or broadening of Iranian state aggression in the UK”.
Read more: Terror arrests came in context of raised warnings about Iran
Children ‘petrified’ by armed police
Rochdale resident Kyle Warren, who witnessed one of the arrests at a neighbouring house, said his children had been playing in the garden when they came running into the house, saying a man in a mask had told them to go inside.
“Obviously, I was a bit worried,” Mr Warren told Sky News’ Lisa Dowd, and so he went into the garden to investigate.
“As we’ve come out, we just heard a massive bang, seen loads of police everywhere with guns, shouting at us to get inside the house.”
Kyle Warren said his children were ‘petrified’
From upstairs in his house, he then heard “loads of shouting in the house” and saw a man being pulled out of the back of the house, “dragged down the side entry and thrown into all the bushes and then handcuffed”.
There were about 20 to 30 officers with guns, he believes.
“It’s just shocking, really. You don’t expect it on your doorstep.”
His daughters were “petrified… I don’t think they’ve ever seen a gun, so to see 20 masked men with guns running round was quite scary for them”.
Mr Warren, who only moved into his house a year ago, said he had “never really seen anyone going in or out” of the house and actually thought it was empty.
One suspect was arrested in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester. Pic: Sarah Cash
One suspect was arrested in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester. Pic: Sarah Cash
Arrests and searches around the country
The Met added officers were carrying out searches at a number of addresses in the Greater Manchester, London and Swindon areas in connection with the investigation.
It said those detained were:
• A 29-year-old man arrested in the Swindon area
• A 46-year-old man arrested in west London
• A 29-year-old man arrested in the Stockport area
• A 40-year-old man arrested in the Rochdale area
• A man whose age was not confirmed arrested in the Manchester area.
A 29-year-old man was arrested in the Stockport area
Terror arrests in separate investigation
Police also arrested three further Iranian nationals in London on Saturday as part of another, unrelated counter-terror investigation.
The suspects were detained under section 27 of the National Security Act 2023, which allows police to arrest those suspected of being “involved in foreign power threat activity”.
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Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “These were two major operations that reflect some of the biggest counter state threat and counter terrorism operations that we have seen in recent years.
“This reflects the complexity of the kinds of challenges to our national security that we continue to face.”
Earlier, she thanked police and security services in a statement, and called the incidents “serious events that demonstrate the ongoing requirement to adapt our response to national security threats”.
Last year, the government placed the whole of the Iranian state – including its intelligence services – on the enhanced tier of the new foreign influence registration scheme.
It means anyone asked by Iran to carry out actions for the state must declare it, or face prison time.
UK
Terror arrests came in context of raised warnings about Iran, with ongoing chaos in its own backyard
These are two separate and unrelated investigations by counter-terror officers.
But the common thread is nationality – seven out of the eight people arrested are Iranian.
And that comes in the context of increased warnings from government and the security services about Iranian activity on British soil.
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Counter terror officers raid property
Last year, the director general of MI5, Ken McCallum, said his organisation and police had responded to 20 Iran-backed plots presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents since January 2022.
He linked that increase to the ongoing situation in Iran’s own backyard.
“As events unfold in the Middle East, we will give our fullest attention to the risk of an increase in – or a broadening of – Iranian state aggression in the UK,” he said.
The implication is that even as Iran grapples with a rapidly changing situation in its own region, having seen its proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, decimated and itself coming under Israeli attack, it may seek avenues further abroad.
The government reiterated this warning only a few weeks ago, with security minister Dan Jarvis addressing parliament.
“The threat from Iran sits in a wider context of the growing, diversifying and evolving threat that the UK faces from malign activity by a number of states,” Jarvis said.
“The threat from states has become increasingly interconnected in nature, blurring the lines between: domestic and international; online and offline; and states and their proxies.
“Turning specifically to Iran, the regime has become increasingly emboldened, asserting itself more aggressively to advance their objectives and undermine ours.”
Read more:
Anybody working for Iran in UK must register or face jail, government announces
As part of that address, Jarvis highlighted the National Security Act 2023, which “criminalises assisting a foreign intelligence service”, among other things.
So it was notable that this was the act used in one of this weekend’s investigations.
The suspects were detained under section 27 of the same act, which allows police to arrest those suspected of being “involved in foreign power threat activity”.
Those powers are apparently being put to use.
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