Beach ceremony marks Seesahai murder anniversary

Shawn Seesahai's mother held the balloons on the beach at a sunset ceremony in Anguilla

The family of Shawn Seesahai, who was murdered with a machete in a Wolverhampton park, have marked the first anniversary of his death on his favourite beach in his native Anguilla.

The 19-year-old, who had come from the Caribbean to the UK for treatment for an eye condition and was living in Birmingham, died in an unprovoked attack last November.

Two 13-year-old boys, who were 12 at the time of the killing, were detained for a minimum of eight years and six months in September.

Mr Seesahai's parents, Maneshwary and Suresh, released balloons on the beach in his memory during a sunset ceremony.

The two boys, who cannot be identified because of their ages, are the youngest convicted killers since Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, who murdered two-year-old James Bulger in 1993.

Earlier this month it emerged their sentences had been referred to the Court of Appeal after concerns were raised their tariffs were too lenient.

Shawn Seesahai, with his younger sister, Shana, and mother Maneshwary, had been in the UK for six months before he was killed

Mr Seesahai had travelled to Wolverhampton with friends when he was struck with a machete to his back, legs and skull, and was also beaten.

He died from a stab wound to the back which penetrated his lungs, heart and almost cut through his entire torso.

The judge, Mrs Justice Tipples, said it was not clear which boy inflicted the fatal blow but said they acted together in the attack.

Mr Seesahai had been in the UK for six months, settling in Handsworth, and hoped to study engineering.

The family left a tribute to the 19-year-old