Britain’s youngest knife murderers, two boys aged 13, have had their sentences increased for the killing of Shawn Seesahai.
The two boys, who cannot be named, were given life sentences after they were convicted of killing the 19-year-old in a Wolverhampton park last November when they were just 12-years-old.
The children, known only as BGI and CMB, were sentenced to a minimum of eight years and six months in detention.
Shawn Seesahai, originally from Anguilla, had come to the UK for cataract surgery and to study engineering. The attack occurred when Seesahai was chatting with a friend at Stowlawn playing fields.
Shawn Seesahai was killed in a Wolverhampton park in November 2023
PASeesahai was stabbed through the heart and lungs with a machete, and sustained a skull fracture when he was attacked over a dispute regarding a bench in East Park.
Both boys pleaded not guilty to murder and blamed the other for inflicting the fatal machete wounds.
The children have now had their sentences increased to a 10-year-minimum prison term at the Court of Appeal.
Government lawyers said the sentences should be increased as it was a “particularly serious type of case”.
A handout photo issued by West Midlands Police of one of two of Britain's youngest knife murderers, wearing a machete across his chestPA/West Midlands PoliceThree senior judges said: “We have, with some reluctance and sadness, come to the conclusion that the minimum terms imposed by Mrs Justice Tipples were unduly lenient.”
With the days they have already served, it means they will spend at least nine years and 60 days behind bars.
During their sentencing in September, the boys were described as the country’s “youngest knife murderers”.
They became the youngest defendants convicted of the crime in the UK since Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both aged 11, were found guilty in 1993 of murdering two-year-old James Bulger.
The court heard that the assault was so violent that a "piece of bone had actually come away" from Seesahai's skull.
Shawn Seesahai was from AnguillaWest Midlands Police
Floral tributes left at the scene in at Stowlawn playing fields in Wolverhampton where Shawn Seesahai died on November 13 2023PAHe was struck on his back, legs, and head, despite having done nothing to provoke the attack.
After the assault, the two boys left Seesahai for dead and went to play the video game Fortnite.
Seesahai’s father Suresh said: "Losing a child is a parent's worst nightmare. It has left a huge hole in the pit of our stomach which nothing can fill, we are devastated as a family, totally heart broken and confused."
