Britain’s youngest knife killers, who killed a stranger in a brutal machete attack when he was just 12, have both been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of eight-and-a-half years.
The killers, both from Wolverhampton, were convicted in June of murdering 19-year-old Shawn Seesahai, who was stabbed in the heart and suffered a skull fracture at the city’s Stowlawn playing fields on November 13 last year.
Described at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday as the “youngest knife killers”, they are the youngest defendants convicted of murder in the UK since Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both 11, were found guilty of killing two men in 1993 It is believed to be. year-old James Bulger.
Mr Seesahai’s killers (both now 13) cannot be named due to the court’s anonymity order.
Both teenagers were allowed to leave the dock and sit in the back of the court benches on Friday as High Court judge Mrs Justice Tipples began sentencing, accepting that the sentence would not bring relief to the victim’s family.
The judge told the boys: “When you killed Shawn he was 19 and starting his adult life with everything there was to live for.
“His parents lost their son. His older sister lost his brother.
“What you did was horrific and shocking. You didn’t 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’m sure you were planning to kill him.”
The judge added that he could not be sure which of the boys caused a 23cm deep wound that covered almost the entirety of Mr Seesahai’s body.
In a victim impact statement read at the sentencing hearing, Mr Seesahai’s family said they were haunted by thoughts of how frightened he must have been when he was killed.
Relatives of Mr Seesahai, who was born in Anguilla, said the murder was tragic, unexpected and senseless, and that it was committed “without any reason”.
Following an argument with the victim about sitting on a park bench, both boys accused the other of inflicting four wounds with a machete.
One of the boys admitted to possessing the knife before the trial, while the other was unanimously convicted of murder and found guilty of the same charge on June 10.
Explaining the reasons for the length of the minimum sentences after the boys were reduced to begin their custodial sentences, High Court judge Mrs Justice Tipples said the murder was aggravated by the fact that it was an attack involving two offenders.
Mitigating factors included the fact that the “spur of the moment attack” was not pre-planned and the young age of the defendants, who were told they would remain in separate secure units where they were detained during the trial.
The court heard the “extremely vulnerable” first defendant, who admitted buying the murder weapon from a friend for £40 about a month before the attack, had been “treated and exploited” by others.
The judge said the first defendant had suffered “numerous adverse childhood experiences”, including abuse by criminals and “multiple traumas” in childhood for which he was not responsible.
“I agree with the authors of the (pre-sentence) report that he does not have the maturity to fully appreciate the consequences of his actions at this stage,” the judge added.
The court heard the second defendant had a supportive and loving relationship with his parents and was previously unknown to police.
Speaking outside court after the sentencing, West Midlands Police Chief Constable Kim Madill said: “Shawn was just 19 years old when his life was taken at the hands of two boys who armed themselves with a machete, he was just 12 at the time.
“This reality has hit us all hard, it is both shocking and sad. “The impact of knife crime is an issue that affects us all, no matter where you live in the country.”
A senior prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service said the two murderers “should have been enjoying their childhood rather than arming themselves with machetes and killing an innocent person”.
Jonathan Roe said: “As prosecutors we often deal with harrowing cases, but this case is particularly harrowing because of the sheer senselessness and devastating consequences of the defendants’ actions.
“The defendants should have enjoyed their childhood instead of wielding a machete and killing an innocent person when they were 12 years old.
“Shawn Seesahai lost his life in a horribly cruel way.
“I hope today’s sentence serves as a reminder of the dangers of carrying a machete.
“Shawn’s family has shown extraordinary strength and dignity in the wake of such a tragedy, and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.”