Appeal for 'devastated' family of murdered teen

Shawn Seesahai, 19, was murdered with machete by two 12 year old boys

A community is appealing for money to help the "devastated" family of Shawn Seesahai who was murdered with a machete.

Mr Seesahai was stabbed by two 12-year-olds in Wolverhampton last November.

A fundraising campaign has been organised to raise £30,000 to reimburse the family for loans and life savings spent on repatriating the 19-year-old's body.

Dorothea Hodge, who represents Mr Seesahai's home nation, Anguilla, in the UK, is urging people to donate after his family spent tens of thousands of dollars in the wake of the attack.

Ms Hodge spoke of the family's suffering and told BBC Radio WM the local community in Anguilla were rallying behind them.

She said: "The family and community are shocked. Its horrific. They are devastated.

"They thought he was moving forward in his life and six months later they had to come and carry their child's body home."

The two 13-year-old boys found guilty of the killing are serving a minimum of eight years and six months in custody.

The pair were 12 at the time of the murder in Wolverhampton, and are the youngest convicted killers since Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, who murdered two-year-old James Bulger in 1993.

A GoFundMe campaign to support the family was opened two weeks ago and has raised just over £1,000 so far.

Ms Hodge said: "Being with grace they really felt for the parents of the children [who killed him] and what must they be going through as well.

"They are incredible, extraordinary people. We honestly hadn't realised how much they had spent, they were really private about it and just carried on.

"They spent life savings, took out loans and borrowed money. All the community had rallied behind them."

Mr Seesahai's family recently told the BBC they believed the boys' sentences were too lenient.

The boys, who cannot be named, will remain on licence for the rest of their lives.

They have been detained at His Majesty's Pleasure, which is the legal equivalent of a life sentence for a juvenile.

Ms Hodge added: "As soon as we realised [how much they had spent] we thought we had to support them. Whatever people can do to support, please do."