Yahoo News Heartbroken parents of 'loving' machete attack victim say his young killers 'don't have to be locked up for life' as long as it's 'fair'
The heartbroken parents of machete attack victim Shawn Seesahai have said his 12-year-old killers "don’t have to be locked up for life" but they want the sentence to be "fair". The 19-year-old's mum and dad travelled from Anguilla to see justice done for their "loving" son.
Shawn had come over to the UK from his Caribbean home to have eye surgery - and had been living in Birmingham for six months when he was fatally stabbed on November 13 last year. He'd travelled into Wolverhampton on the tram with two friends, so one of his pals could visit his girlfriend. While they waited, Shawn and his other friend went to Stowlawn playing and sat on a bench.
They were then approached by some youths who had been on a nearby baseball court and the exchange tragically resulted in Shawn's untimely death. A post mortem later gave the cause of death as a stab wound to his chest but he'd also suffered a significant knife injury to the head and a number of slash wounds.
Following a month-long trial at Nottingham Crown Court, two 12-year-old boys were found guilty of his murder on Monday, June 10. One of the defendants was also found guilty of having an article with a blade or a point, while the other defendant admitted the charge prior to the trial.
Following the verdicts, West Midlands Police has released an emotional interview with Shawn's parents. His mother, Maneshwary, said: “"Shawn was such a loving son, he was so well-mannered, looked after us, was loving to everyone and very protective.
"He always said he wanted to work, he wanted his own house, his own car. He liked basketball and cricket, he loved those sports. He was always listening to music. He spent most of his time at home and didn't want to go out much."
His father, Suresh, added: "I will remember him every day, when I get home I see his pictures, his clothes, his sneakers, I will always remember him. Even at work, I work for myself and he works for me on weekends, when I would pack up my stuff he always helped me.
"Whenever I put anything in my truck now, he will be there with me helping me do it. I never had a problem with Shawn, he was such a loving son. He would be up at 5am to work, and whenever I paid him he always saved it. We are a very close family, we'll never forget him."
Suresh added: "Justice must be done. I want them to have the right sentence, they don’t have to be locked up for life, I just want it to be fair. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we’ll get the justice we've come here for."
