Shawn Seesahai: Boys, 12, found guilty of murdering 19-year-old in machete attack

Published

12 months ago

June 10, 2024

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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.

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.

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.”

‘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.”

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.

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.

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.”

UK

Living beside the UK’s first drug consumption room

Published

2 hours ago

May 26, 2025

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Living beside the UK's first drug consumption room

It’s 8.34am on a Tuesday and Vanessa Paton is taking me on a tour of Glasgow’s east end, where she has lived for almost 50 years.

Half a mile away sits the newly opened taxpayer-funded facility, named The Thistle, where drug addicts can bring their heroin and cocaine, are handed clean needles and invited to inject under NHS medical supervision.

The concept, a UK first, is controversial and costs £2.3m a year.

Authorities believe it provides a safer, cleaner area for users to do their business, away from the dirty, HIV-ridden back alleys of Glasgow city centre.

It opened in January, and around 250 people have used it so far.

But there is a growing feeling among some that a by-product of this bold project is the alleged “war zone” being created in the community around the new building.

Former council worker Ms Paton is one of an ad-hoc group of furious locals who pick up needles as part of desperate efforts to clear their streets.

She says: “It is getting worse. The new room has appeared, and the problems have escalated with it. It’s a no-go war zone every day and night.

“The area’s becoming a toilet. That is the harsh reality of it.”

‘It is disgusting’

Sky News spends the morning being shown areas where it is claimed the issues are getting out of control.

Ms Paton pulls a bloodied, faeces-covered hospital gown out of a bush as we walk along a path behind a row of houses.

We turn the corner to a street where children play and are greeted with syringes filled with blood at our feet, discarded needle packaging and dirty underwear.

Local resident Angela Scott says: “It’s become a lot worse. It’s heightened. I’m scared that if I am picking up my dog dirt am I going to prick a needle.

“Am I going to end up with an infection that a lot of drug addicts tend to have because they are sharing needles? I don’t want to pick up something infectious.”

Adverts installed in known drug dens

Officials have installed a new needle bin in one hotspot in recent days, with posters erected advertising the nearby consumption room.

Ms Paton alleges safety steps are being taken at a nearby nursery.

“There is a nursery that actually uses a metal detector in the morning to scan the sandpits before the children go out because of the concern of the needles being in it,” she claims.

This area is known as Calton and has had its troubles with drug taking and crime for many years.

Ms Paton takes us to a tucked-away, overgrown area opposite social housing and a few metres from where a new school is being built. It is a makeshift drug den.

There are hundreds of freshly used needles. It is like a minefield.

One needle is stabbed into a large tree, there is even a wooden seat which is covered in drug-taking equipment.

Once again, there is a laminated A4 piece of paper pointing users in the direction of The Thistle.

Ms Paton says: “We picked up 50 needles in one minute last week. If we were to pick up every needle that is here today, we’d be talking hundreds.

“We are struggling to find somewhere safe to stand. There are needles between my legs, you’ve got needles behind your head.

“It’s totally soul-destroying. Nobody living here expected it to be this bad.”

Officials deny it is a new problem

Glasgow City Council told Sky News there had not been an increase in reports despite the community alleging the opposite.

Councillor Allan Casey, who is responsible for drug policy in the city, said: “This has been a long-standing issue and that is one of the main reasons why The Thistle has been placed where it is because there has been decades-long discarded needles in public places.

Responding to claims of increasing problems around the new facility, Mr Casey said: “Those reports don’t back that up.

“The council has not seen a rise in reports of injecting equipment and there has not been an increase in crime reports.”

Scotland is ravaged by drugs. The country has the worst drug death rate in Europe.

Scotland’s first minister John Swinney told Sky News the new drug room required time to “see the impact”.

He said: “The Thistle is a safe consumption facility which is designed to encourage people to come off the use of drugs – that’s its purpose. We’ve got to give that venture time to see the impact.

“We need to engage with the local community… and address any concerns.”

It is understood police have logged no calls about the facility since it opened in January, despite some residents suggesting they have contacted officers with concerns.

Inspector Max Shaw from Police Scotland said: “We are aware of long-standing issues in the area and continue to work closely in partnership to address these concerns.”

UK

Premier League clubs at risk of legal action over unlicensed casino sponsors

Published

11 hours ago

May 25, 2025

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Premier League clubs at risk of legal action over unlicensed casino sponsors

Casinos sponsoring two Premier League clubs are accepting UK customers without a licence, putting club officers at risk of prosecution, Sky News has learned.

The gambling websites, BC.Game and DEBET, are the matchday shirt sponsors of Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers, respectively.

But an investigation by anti-gambling advert campaigners, shared with Sky News, suggests the casinos have continued to accept UK customers – despite this becoming unlawful after they lost their licences to operate in the UK.

DEBET lost its licence on 15 May, while BC.Game lost its licence in December 2024.

Neither club has indicated that they intend to end the sponsorships, despite criticism from campaigners and warnings from the Gambling Commission.

With the end of the 2024/25 season this weekend, both clubs are now half-way through two-year sponsorship deals with the casinos – putting them in a difficult position for next season.

The campaign group Coalition to End Gambling Ads (CEGA) told Sky News it was able to make deposits on both gambling websites, despite the sites having no licence to accept UK customers.

CEGA also successfully deposited cash on Burnley FC sponsor 96.com. Burnley are due to be promoted to the Premier League next season.

The findings come one week after the Gambling Commission warned five football clubs, including Wolverhampton and Burnley, that their officers “may be liable to prosecution and, if convicted, face a fine, imprisonment or both if they promote unlicensed gambling businesses that transact with consumers in Great Britain”.

The Commission had issued a similar warning to Leicester City in February.

It made clear then that the clubs must either cut ties with the casinos or ensure they are not accessible to UK customers “by any means” – including virtual private networks (VPNs) – software used to hide a user’s real location.

Other than the need to use a VPN, CEGA director Will Prochaska says it “really wasn’t very difficult” to access the sites.

The Gambling Commission declined to be interviewed by Sky News, but said that “where we have evidence that meets the standard for criminal prosecution we will take appropriate action”.

Head of enforcement at the Commission John Pierce previously said the body would “conduct ongoing spot checks as necessary to ensure they are not accessible to consumers in Great Britain by any means”.

Mr Prochaska, however, said the Commission was taking “far too long” to take action.

“Far too many children, far too many football fans, are seeing these adverts every day,” he said. “It’s got to stop.”

Leicester City’s sponsor has had no UK licence for almost six months

The three sites that appear on the matchday shirts of Leicester, Wolves and Burnley were previously licensed by TGP Europe, a company based on the Isle of Man.

On 15 May, TGP Europe surrendered its UK gambling licence to avoid a £3.3m fine, leaving DEBET and 96.com unable to legally accept UK customers.

Leicester City sponsor BC.Game has been unlicensed in the UK since it parted ways with TGP Europe in December 2024 – almost six months ago.

Mr Prochaska said he contacted Leicester City on 13 March to alert them that BC.Game was still accepting UK customers.

“In fact, it was one of the easiest for me to gamble on – there were very few checks whatsoever,” he says. “But Leicester don’t seem to have done anything about it, and it’s still on the front of their shirts.”

Leicester City FC did not respond to a request for comment.

Sky News was able to sign up to every single site

Bournemouth, Fulham and Newcastle United are also sponsored by casinos that were formerly licensed by TGP Europe, but have been unlicensed since 15 May.

These casinos (bj88, SBOTOP and FUN88) are no longer able to legally accept UK customers.

However, Sky News was able to use a VPN to sign up to all three casinos, as well as those sponsoring Leicester City, Wolverhampton and Burnley.

On all six websites, Sky was able to access QR codes for making cryptocurrency deposits. Sky News did not attempt to make any deposits.

All six casinos are forbidden by law from accepting UK customers.

Yet Burnley sponsor 96.com allowed Sky News to sign up using a Telegram account registered to a UK phone number.

The other websites all required phone numbers to be entered upon registration, which could be used as an additional layer of security to filter out UK customers.

However, most of the websites did not check whether the phone number provided was genuine.

Only one website, Leicester City sponsor BC.Game, did check.

However, after confirming the phone number’s authenticity, BC.Game allowed registration to proceed – even though Sky News had provided a UK phone number.

Sky News presented these findings to the football clubs concerned, to TGP Europe and to the Gambling Commission, but did not receive any comment.

Anyone concerned about their gambling, or that of a loved one, can visit BeGambleAware.org for free, confidential advice and support, or The National Gambling Helpline is available on 0808 8020 133 and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

UK

Former BBC executive and presenter Alan Yentob dies

Published

11 hours ago

May 25, 2025

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Former BBC executive and presenter Alan Yentob dies

Alan Yentob, the former BBC presenter and executive, has died aged 78.

A statement from his family, shared by the BBC, said Yentob died on Saturday.

His wife Philippa Walker said: “For Jacob, Bella and I, every day with Alan held the promise of something unexpected. Our life was exciting, he was exciting.

“He was curious, funny, annoying, late, and creative in every cell of his body. But more than that, he was the kindest of men and a profoundly moral man. He leaves in his wake a trail of love a mile wide.”

Yentob joined the BBC as a trainee in 1968 and held a number of positions – including controller of BBC One and BBC Two, director of television, and head of music and art.

He was also the director of BBC drama, entertainment, and children’s TV.

Yentob launched CBBC and CBeebies, and his drama commissions included Pride And Prejudice and Middlemarch.

The TV executive was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the King in 2024 for services to the arts and media.

In a tribute, the BBC’s director-general Tim Davie said: “Alan Yentob was a towering figure in British broadcasting and the arts. A creative force and a cultural visionary, he shaped decades of programming at the BBC and beyond, with a passion for storytelling and public service that leave a lasting legacy.

“Above all, Alan was a true original. His passion wasn’t performative – it was personal. He believed in the power of culture to enrich, challenge and connect us.”

BBC Radio 4 presenter Amol Rajan described him on Instagram as “such a unique and kind man: an improbable impresario from unlikely origins who became a towering figure in the culture of post-war Britain.

“I commend his spirit to the living.”