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Two 12-year-old boys who used a machete to mercilessly stab an “utterly defenceless” teenager before reading news articles about his death have been found guilty of murder.
Shawn Seesahai, 19, had not been violent when he and his friends were set upon while walking through Stowlawn playing fields in Wolverhampton on November 13 last year.
Jurors heard one of the defendants regularly carried a machete, and the two had been seen “passing it between themselves” before carrying out the lethal attack.
Despite doing nothing to offend his killers, Mr Seeshai was hit so hard on the skull that a piece of bone came away and suffered a fatal 23cm deep stab wound which almost went the whole way through his body.
Both the defendants, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had screenshots of knives on their phones and had researched articles about the killing. One of them had also searched online for “how many criminal records can you have to leave the country” on November 14, a day after the attack.
Nottingham Crown Court heard that Mr Seesahai, who lived in Handsworth in Birmingham but was originally from Anguilla in the Caribbean, had travelled to the UK to receive treatment for cataracts.
On November 13, he had travelled with friends to Wolverhampton, while the two 12-year-olds were together from 4.10pm that afternoon, meeting two girls of around the same age who are witnesses in the case.
After spending a period of time sitting with a friend on a bench and walking near basketball courts, the court heard Mr Seesahai and his friend “came together” with the defendants as the boys passed the machete between them, with one commenting “Keep stepping”.
The weapon had been taken out of one of the boys’ trousers and was made available to be used despite the fact Mr Seesahai had offered no violence.
His friend who was with him at the time of the attack told police that one of the boys had deliberately shoulder-brushed his victim, before producing the weapon and launching their attack.
Michelle Heeley KC told the court: “The prosecution says the two boys were 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.
“We say that these two boys were acting together and meant to kill Mr Seesahai, at the very least they intended to cause really serious harm.
“As a result of their actions, Shawn Seesahai died at the scene. He had been hit so hard to the skull with the machete that a piece of bone had actually come away.
“He had slash wounds on his leg, and most significantly he had an injury from the machete that went through his body all the way from his back, through his ribs and into his heart.”
After the killing Mr Seesahai’s friend called the police, who attended and began to carry out CPR but it was apparent from the severity of the injuries suffered that he was already dead.
The two boys had denied the charge and blamed each other for his death, while one had admitted possession of the machete used in the attack.
Detective Inspector Damian Forrest, who led the investigation, said: “The weapon was a large machete that really no person who doesn’t need it as a tool of their trade should have any reason to own.
“Obviously, originally it would be a gardening tool.
“Although the facts of this case mean we can’t say for certain how that weapon came into the possession of the suspects, there is some evidence that suggests that one of them had tried to purchase knives on the internet.”
More follows on this breaking news story…
