Two boys believed to be UK’s youngest knife murderers detained for minimum of eight years and six months
Two boys believed to be the UK’s youngest knife murderers have both been detained for a minimum term of eight years and six months.
The pair were both aged 12 when they killed 19-year-old Shawn Seesahai in a machete attack in a Wolverhampton park on 13 November last year.
They are thought to be the youngest children to be convicted of murder in Britain since Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, who were both aged 11 when they were found guilty in 1993 of killing two-year-old James Bulger.
The judge, Mrs Justice Tipples, previously rejected a media application to lift the reporting restrictions which prevent Mr Seesahai’s murderers from being identified because of their age.
The victim’s parents, who are from the small Caribbean island of Anguilla, told Sky News they are still in a “lot of pain” and wonder whether their son was calling for “mummy or daddy” for help when he was attacked.
The judge began her sentencing by acknowledging the jail terms being handed down would be no comfort to the victim’s family.
She told the boys: “When you killed Shawn he was 19, starting out in his adult life with everything to live for.
“His parents have lost their son. His sister has lost her brother.
“What you did is horrific and shocking. You did not know Shawn, he was a stranger to you. You both killed Shawn in an attack that lasted less than a minute when he asked you to move (from a bench).
“I am sure you intended to kill him.”
Shawn Seesahai. Pic: West Midlands Police
The judge added that she could not be sure which of the boys had inflicted a 23cm-deep wound which almost passed all the way through Mr Seesahai’s body.
The teenager had travelled to the UK for cataract surgery and was due to start an engineering course in Birmingham the day after he was attacked.
One of the killers posed for a picture wearing a mask with his machete, which had a 42.5cm black blade, tucked into the top of his trousers hours before the murder.
Nottingham Crown Court was told Mr Seesahai, who was a stranger to the boys, was walking through Stowlawn playing fields with a friend when he was shoulder-barged by one of the 12-year-olds.
A machete was found under the bed of one of the boys. Pic: West Midlands Police
Mr Seesahai was then punched, kicked, stamped on and chopped at with the weapon, suffering wounds to his back, legs and skull, with the more than 20cm deep fatal blow puncturing his heart.
One boy cleaned his machete with bleach and hid it under his bed following the murder.
He wrote in social media messages “it is what it is” and “idrc” (I don’t really care).
Both blamed each other for inflicting the fatal blow but prosecutors said they “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”.
Police provided an image of one of the convicted boys wearing a machete across his chest. Pic: West Midlands Police/PA
The boys – who were 12 when they were convicted and are now aged 13 – are believed to be the youngest children to be found guilty of a knife murder in the UK.
One of the boys admitted possession of the knife prior to the trial, while the other was found guilty of the charge.
Rachel Brand KC, defending the boy who admitted buying and owning the machete, said he had been “groomed” and exploited by older youths and young men in the wider community and “wishes he hadn’t taken the machete out with him”.
“He wishes they hadn’t gone to the park. He wishes that this hadn’t happened,” she said.
Paul Lewis KC, defending the other boy, said he had never been involved in criminality before, adding: “This was a one-off incident that was not premeditated – over in seconds – with admittedly tragic results.”
Mr Seesahai was ‘utterly defenceless’ when he was attacked, the trial heard. Pic: West Midlands Police/PA
‘I felt shocked they’re so young’
Mr Seesahai’s parents said they were struck by how young their son’s killers looked when they attended the trial.
“I felt shocked they’re so young, they’re so small and they did something like that,” his mother Manashwary Seesahai told Sky News.
“From the time I see them, I get angry because of what they did to my son.”
The parents had planned to move to the UK to be with their son and send his younger sister Shana, 15, to school, but his murder “changed everything”.
Mr Seesahai’s family scattered his ashes on his favourite beach
“Now I’m too afraid to take my daughter,” Mrs Seesahai said, speaking to Sky News from her son’s favourite beach, Crocus Bay, where they scattered his ashes.
“It just hurt me so bad. In time to come he would’ve married, had kids, we would’ve had grandchildren and enjoy our grandkids and nothing like that anymore.”
Mr Seesahai’s parents urged children to “think about what they’re doing” and not to carry a weapon, but wanted to see his killers jailed for 30 years.
“You have to have a proper sentencing for knife crime. Murder is murder,” his father Suresh Seesahai said.
“They didn’t kill my son the way that someone should be killed. They murdered him, they chop him, they chop his leg, they chop his shoulder, they beat him… they do a monstrous job to him.”
A forensic blue tent where Shawn Seesahai was killed in November last year. Pic: Stephanie Wareham/PA
West Midlands Police Chief Superintendent Kim Madill said outside court after sentencing: “Shawn was only 19 when his life was taken at the hands of two boys, then aged just 12, who had armed themselves with a machete.
“That reality has had a huge impact on us all, it is both shocking and saddening. The impact of knife crime is devastating no matter where you live in the country, this is an issue that affects us all.
“Much work has been done and we have had successes in some areas, however, this is clearly not enough.
“We are listening to families affected by knife crime and acting on their feedback to see what more we can do with partners to stop the devastation caused by knife crime.”
Nigel Farage has told Sky News he “can’t be pushed or bullied” by anybody after Elon Musk said the Reform MP “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead his party.
In an interview with Sky’s political correspondent Ali Fortescue, Mr Farage said he has spoken with the billionaire owner of X since his criticism on 5 January, when Mr Musk said: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
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Asked if the pair are still friends, Mr Farage said: “Of course we’re friends. He just says what he thinks at any moment in time.”
He added he has “been in touch” with Mr Musk, though wouldn’t divulge what they had discussed.
“Look, he said lots of supportive things. He said one thing that wasn’t supportive. I mean, that’s just the way it is,” Mr Farage said.
Musk and Farage met in December. Pic: PA
Asked if he was afraid to criticise the tech mogul, the Clacton MP said the situation was “the opposite”, and he openly disagreed with Mr Musk on his views on far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Mr Farage said: “What he [Musk] was saying online was that effectively Tommy Robinson was a political prisoner and I wouldn’t go along with that.
“If I had gone along with that, he wouldn’t have put out a tweet that was against me.
“By the way, you know, I can’t be pushed or bullied or made to change by anybody.
“I stick to what I believe.”
Mr Musk has endorsed Robinson and claimed he was “telling the truth” about grooming gangs, writing on X: “Free Tommy Robinson”.
But Mr Farage said that Robinson, who is serving an 18-month jail term for contempt of court, isn’t welcome in Reform UK and neither are his supporters.
He said: “If people within Reform think Tommy Robinson should be a member of Reform and play a central role in Reform, that disagreement is absolutely fundamental.
“I’ve never wanted to work with people who were active in the BNP. I’ve made that clear right throughout the last decade of my on/off political career. So that’s what the point of difference is.”
Despite their disagreement, Mr Farage said he is confident Mr Musk will continue to support Reform and “may well” still give money to it.
The entrepreneur has previously spoken positively about Reform UK and there have been suggestions he could make a multi-million-pound donation in its favour.
Devolution plans ‘denial of democracy’
Mr Farage was speaking from Reform’s South East of England Conference, one of a series of regional events aimed at building up the party’s support base.
Elsewhere in the interview, he hit out at the Labour government’s devolution plans which could see some local elections scheduled for May postponed.
This would apply when councils seek permission to reorganise, so that smaller district authorities merge with other nearby ones to give them more sway over their area.
Mr Farage, who is hoping to make gains in the spring contests, claimed the plans are not about devolution but about “elections being cancelled”.
“I thought only dictators cancelled elections. This is unbelievable and devolution or a change to local government structures is being used as an excuse,” he said.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage earlier this month. Pic: PA
He claimed Tory-controlled councils are “grabbing it like it’s a life belt”, because they fear losing seats to Reform.
“It’s an absolute denial of democracy,” he added.
Mr Farage was also asked why many Reform members don’t like to speak on camera about why they support his party.
He said he did not accept there was a toxicity associated with Reform and claimed there was “institutional bias against anybody that isn’t left of centre”.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
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