The family of a man killed by the UK’s youngest knife murderers said they are haunted by thoughts of his last moments and “how scared he must have been”.
Shawn Seesahai, 19, was waiting with a friend on playing fields in Wolverhampton when he was killed by two boys, then aged 12, wielding a machete.
The boys, who are now 13, were found guilty of murder after a 20-day trial in June and are due to be sentenced on Friday.
The prosecutor, Michelle Heeley KC, told the court on Thursday that the boys were “the youngest knife murderers” and there was little precedent for what sentence they should receive.
Their victim, Seesahai, was from Anguilla, a British overseas territory in the Caribbean, and had recently travelled to the UK for medical treatment before his death.
In a statement read to the court by Dorothea Hodge, the UK representative for Anguilla, his family said they were “struggling in so many ways” after his murder, which “appears to be for no reason at all”.
“We are devastated as a family, totally heartbroken and confused,” they said. “None of us have had an unbroken night’s sleep since Shawn was taken from us. Every time I close my eyes, all I can think about are what his last moments were and how scared he must have been. It continually breaks my heart.”
The family said they had also suffered financially, spending their life savings to have Seesahai’s body repatriated to Anguilla and taking out a loan to attend the murder trial in the UK.
“The impact on us as a family is devastating. It’s hard to believe that we will ever come to terms with what has happened,” they said.
“Shawn was a very loving child to us. He was very helpful and hardworking. He loved to help out with dad in construction and loved to help with the household chores. He was a humble person and his personality was unique.”
The trial heard how the two boys, whose identities are protected by a court order due to their age, were roaming the streets on 13 November last year when they got into a confrontation with Seesahai and his friend over a park bench.
His friend fled but Seesahai stumbled to the floor and in the ensuing attack he was punched, kicked, stamped on and “chopped” at with the weapon, with one stab wound puncturing his heart and lung.
There was conflicting evidence over which of the boys had inflicted the fatal injuries with the machete, although one admitted to owning the 42.5cm-long blade and was known to have regularly carried a weapon.
The court heard that this boy, deemed by the prosecution to be the initial “aggressor” in the attack, had been “groomed, exploited and trafficked by older youths and young men in the wider community who encouraged him towards the possession of knives”.
Rachel Brand KC, representing this youth, said: “He was being exploited by those older than him. One only has to think of the places he was found sometimes late at night with no explanation how he got there.”
The court heard he had “experienced significant trauma in his life”, was at high risk of child criminal exploitation and came from a deprived home with family members who had offended.
She said he was under the care of his grandmother, who had brought his behaviour to the attention of social services on a number of occasions, but only had “intermittent contact” with support workers.
His co-defendant had also experienced significant disruption in his home life, the court heard, but there was no evidence he carried a knife.
After their conviction, Mrs Justice Tipples ruled the defendants could not be identified by the media because of concerns surrounding their welfare.
