Two boys, both 12, found guilty of machete murder of teenager
Two 12-year-old boys have been found guilty of murdering a 19-year-old man whom they attacked with a machete. Media reports indicate that they are the youngest individuals in the United Kingdom to be convicted of murder since 1993.
On Monday, 10 June, jurors unanimously convicted the two 12-year-olds, and it is believed that they are the youngest convicted for murder in the United Kingdom since Robert Thompson and 10-year-old Jon Venables were found guilty in 1993 of killing two-year-old James Bulger.
19-year-old Shawn Seesahai died following the attack on 13 November last year. He sustained injuries to his back, legs, and skull. The fatal wound on his back was over 20 centimetres deep and "almost came out" of his chest after passing "through his heart."
The two 12-year-old boys denied murdering Mr. Seesahai, but prosecutors argued that they were co-responsible for the brutal attack.
I have been a police officer for 20 years, and it is not the first time that I have come across a young man who lost his life in a really brutal way," said Detective Inspector Damian Forrest of the West Midlands Police. "But discovering that the crime was committed by two 12-year-olds was shocking and made everyone on the investigation team stop and think about various things," he added.
Because they are minors, their personal details cannot be made public, but the court may change this decision when announcing the sentence.
Behind the tragedy in the United Kingdom
Seesahai, originally from Anguilla in the Caribbean, was staying in Birmingham while recovering from cataract surgery. He and his friend went to a park in Wolverhampton, where they encountered a group of children.
Prosecutors stated that despite the fact that Seesahai "did not use violence or do anything that might have been offensive," he became the victim of a brutal attack.
