Shawn Seesahai's family describes their pain over his 'senseless' machete murder

The family of a teenager murdered by two 12-year-old boys armed with machetes say they are haunted by thoughts of how frightened the boy must have been when he was killed.

In a victim's statement read to the judge who is expected to sentence the killers, both now 13 years old, relatives of Shawn Seesahai described the murder of the 19-year-old from Anguilla as tragic, unexpected and senseless, and said it was committed “without any reason whatsoever.”

On the first day of a two-day criminal trial at Nottingham Crown Court, it was announced that both defendants – who had blamed each other during the trial – continued to deny any responsibility for the murder.

Mr Seesahai died as a result of a stab wound to the heart and a fractured skull on Wolverhampton's pitch at Stowlawn Stadium.

A month-long trial found that the smaller of the two accused had shoulder-butted Mr Seesahai. The accused “often” carried a machete with a 42.5-centimetre-long blade and was subsequently hit, kicked, stomped on and “beaten” with the weapon.

The victim's friend testified at the trial that he was forced to run for his life, but Mr Seesahai stumbled as he tried to escape from the boys.

His killers are believed to be the youngest defendants convicted of murder in Britain since Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both aged 11 at the time, were found guilty of killing two-year-old James Bulger in 1993.

Judge Tipples, who is due to impose a minimum sentence and mandatory life sentences on Friday, was told there was “little precedent” in the case and that the boys were believed to be the country's youngest knife murderers.

The boys were allowed to leave the dock and sit next to their relatives in the back row of the courtroom while the Government of Anguilla's international representative, Dorothea Hodge, read a family victim impact statement to the court.

Relatives of Mr Seesahai, who had to take out a loan to travel to the UK to attend the 20-day trial, are following the verdict via video link.

The family statement read: “We are making this statement in response to the tragic, unexpected and senseless murder of our beloved son and brother Shawn, who was tragically taken from us in November of last year.

“Since Shawn was taken from us, we as a family have struggled in many ways, especially given the horrific way in which he was taken from us.

“Losing a child is every parent's worst nightmare. Writing everything about how this has affected our lives in a statement would take more than a day to read.

“It has left a huge hole in our stomachs that nothing can fill. We are devastated as a family, completely heartbroken and confused.”

The statement went on to say that Shawn had an incredibly close relationship with his younger sister. Her sister always dreamed of attending his wedding and he of attending hers.

Family members, including parents Suresh and Maneshwary and sister Shana, added: “It has been mentally difficult for any of us to function normally. None of us have slept through the night since Shawn was taken from us.”

“Every time I close my eyes, all I can think about is what his final moments were like and how scared he must have been. It always breaks my heart.

“The impact on us as a family is devastating. It is hard to believe that we will ever get over what has happened.

“We will never see Shawn get married or start a family of his own. Those things were taken from us seemingly for no reason.”

Judge Tipples ruled after the trial that the media could not reveal the identity of the defendants because of concerns about their welfare.