UK's youngest knife killers' sentences increased

The UK's youngest knife murderers have had the minimum terms of their life sentences increased for the killing of Shawn Seesahai.

The ruling at the Court of Appeal increased the minimum terms of the two 13-year-old boys from eight-and-a-half years to 10 years.

The children, known only as BGI and CMB, were 12 when they murdered the 19-year-old on November 13 last year on Stowlawn playing fields, Wolverhampton.

Mr Seesahai was stabbed through the heart and lungs with a machete and died at the scene.

The Solicitor General had referred their sentences to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme (ULS), which allows sentences to be reconsidered if government law officers consider them too short.

At a hearing on Thursday, government lawyers said the sentences should be increased, stating it was a "particularly serious type of case".

The ruling, by three senior judges, means they will spend nine years and 60 days behind bars because of time already served.

Lord Justice William Davis, sitting with Mr Justice Bennathan and Judge Nicholas Dean KC, said: "We have, with some reluctance and sadness, come to the conclusion that the minimum terms imposed by Mrs Justice Tipples were unduly lenient."

The judge added full written reasons for the decision would be given later on Thursday.

The boys are believed to be the youngest defendants convicted of murder in the UK since 11-year-olds Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were found guilty of killing two-year-old James Bulger in 1993.

Anguilla-born Mr Seesahai had been living in Birmingham at the time of his killing.

His skull was fractured during the attack and one of his wounds was 23cm (9 inches) deep, nearly passing through his body.

In a victim impact statement, read at the killers' sentencing hearing, his family said they were haunted by thoughts of how scared he must have been.

They described his murder as tragic, unexpected and senseless, and committed "for no reason at all".

The two boys were convicted at Nottingham Crown Court in September.

Both blamed the other for inflicting four wounds with the machete, but were unanimously convicted of murder.

The judge at their trial, Mrs Justice Tipples, ruled the defendants should be protected by anonymity orders, saying their welfare outweighed the wider public interest in open justice and unrestricted reporting.

In her sentencing remarks, she said Mr Seeshai had "everything to live for" and described his killing as "horrific and shocking".

She described BGI as "extremely vulnerable" and said he had admitted buying the murder weapon from a friend for £40 about a month before the attack.

She continued he had been "groomed and exploited" by others and had "very many adverse childhood experiences".

The second defendant, CMB, had a supportive and loving relationship with his parents and was not previously known to police.

Explaining her reasons for the length of the minimum terms, the judge said mitigating factors included the fact the attack was not premeditated, and the defendants' age.

However, in written submissions to Thursday's hearing, the Solicitor General told the Court of Appeal the sentences were "significantly too short".

Paul Jarvis, representing the Solicitor General in court, said the judge "made significantly too much allowance" for mitigation.

Both boys attended the hearing by videolink from separate facilities.