Shawn Seesahai: 'Humble and hardworking' teen who came to UK for eye treatment and was murdered by machete-wielding schoolboys
A "humble and hardworking" teenager who came to the UK with his family to get treatment for his cataracts was murdered in the Black Country by two schoolboys with a machete just months after arriving.
Shawn Seesahai, from Anguilla in the Caribbean, was just 19 when he was fatally attacked on a playing field in Bilston. His two killers, who told a court they played video games in the hours after the killing, were even younger still.
The two boys, who this summer became the youngest convicted murderers in Britain since James Bulger's killers, are now 13 years old and were just 12 when they set upon Mr Seesahai in November last year. A court heard that one of the defendants posed, wearing a mask, with the murder weapon for a picture hours before the killing, and that they attacked Mr Seesahai without provocation.
A month-long trial at Nottingham Crown Court earlier this year heard Mr Seesahai was shoulder-barged by the smaller of the two boys, who often carried a machete, before they punched, stamped and "chopped" at him with the 42.5cm-long blade.
His injuries included a 23cm-deep cut piercing his ribs into his heart and slash wounds on his leg. The court heard he had been hit so hard to the skull with the machete part of the bone had come away.
The victim’s friend told the trial he was forced to run for his life but Mr Seesahai stumbled as he tried to flee from the boys.
Although the friend did not see the “vicious attack” that ensued, prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC said a teenage girl who had been with the 12-year-olds told police that both had been in possession of the machete.
The witness described seeing one boy pick up the machete and hold it in the air, Mr Seesahai falling to the floor and then being punched and kicked.
He was pronounced dead at 9.11pm after police and paramedics arrived on the scene.
The two boys were arrested on November 14, the day after murdering Mr Seesahai, and have spent more than 300 days in custody awaiting first trial and now sentence.
Murderers blamed each other
After refusing to answer police questions in the aftermath of the murder, the boys both gave evidence to jurors during the trial, blaming each other for inflicting the fatal blow. As well as failing to summon help for Mr Seesahai, the youths showed no remorse for what they had done in the 24 hours before their arrest – with one cleaning the machete with bleach and hiding it under his bed.
They told the court they both played video games in the hours after the killing, claiming they did not know Mr Seesahai had died until the following day. The killing, just yards from a primary school, shocked a community, which held a candlelit vigil at the scene.
It is one of several recent murders in the Black Country involving under-18s carrying machetes or zombie knives, often bought on the internet.
Jurors unanimously convicted both boys of murder on June 10. They have both also been convicted of possessing a bladed article.
Family members of both the victim and the defendants cried and hugged in the public gallery as the verdicts were delivered.
'This world is a different world'
In an interview, Mr Seesahai’s parents have questioned how a child so young could have a weapon like a machete with them as they walked the streets.
Suresh said: “This world is a different world, kids are dangerous now. If we don’t pay attention to them this will keep happening.”
Maneshwary added: “12-year-old kids should be at home doing school work and then going to bed. I have two children and at 7.30pm they had to go to bed because they have to follow the rules of the house.
“Before that they do their school work and have a little rest.”
The couple, who also have a teenage daughter, told of the moment they were told their son had been stabbed to death.
Maneshwary said: “I got a call from Shawn’s friend who was staying with him. He told me Shawn had been stabbed and I just started crying.
“I told my husband and he asked for the phone to find out what had happened.”
Suresh added: “She kept saying that Shawn had been stabbed, I asked her what she meant and then she handed me the phone.
“I asked if Shawn was okay and he said that he was not, that he had passed away.
“About 30 minutes later I got a call from the police who asked if I was Shawn’s father and if I could spell Shawn’s name out. I said ‘yes’ and did, they told me they had bad news - that my son had been stabbed and had passed away.
“Getting a call like that is not nice for anyone. I tried to keep myself up but getting a message like that was not easy.”
Both boys are due to be sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court today for murder and for possession of a bladed article.
Wolverhampton mayor Councillor Linda Leach said that since Mr Seesahai's killing, a number of open days and children's activity sessions had been held as part of efforts to reassure local families.
One event attracted more than 1,000 people as residents began to come to terms with the tragedy that unfolded on their door steps.
Councillor Leach said: "People in this community have been very upset about the murder of this young man in the shadow of their homes.
"People in Bilston are very proud of their town.
"The open days are among a number of things in the pipeline to help the community pull together.
"As councillors we are working very hard behind the scenes on those estates to reassure residents and listen to concerns about safety."
She said the coronavirus pandemic had affected many community groups. There were no youth clubs in the vicinity where Shawn died, but there was provision in the city area including a swimming pool and The Way youth hub.
Detached youth workers also put on activities in parks in the city.
"There are things going on if families and young people want to find activities.
"The problem is, it costs money and with a cost of living crisis, it's a struggle for people."