Exclusive:
Shawn’s father has now told The Mirror how he was told of the awful news over the phone by Shawn’s friend after he was stabbed to death during a trip to the UK
Shawn Seesahai: Parents of murdered teen speak of their anguish
The parents of tragic Shawn Seesahai received a heartbreaking call from a friend of their son telling them he had passed away.
Suresh and Maneshwary Seesahai’s world was turned upside down by an 11-word utterance before the news was confirmed by police. Shawn was killed in a random attack in a park in Bilston in the West Midlands in November of last year.
He was attacked by a pair of 12-year-old boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, who became Britain’s youngest knife murderers. Shawn’s father has now told The Mirror how he was told of the awful news over the phone by Shawn’s friend, who said: “Shawn got stabbed. No, Shawn got stabbed and he passed away.”
His parents, who are devout Hindus, were celebrating Diwali with relatives at home when they learned the news. “My sister from Antigua was visiting, with another sister who lives here in Anguilla,” recalled Shawn’s father.
“It was Diwali festival. It was the afternoon so I suggested it was a good time for us to go on the porch and open a beer. The phone rang at the same time and I heard my wife howling.
“Shawn’s friend had called her phone and said Shawn had got stabbed, and she started crying. I could hear her saying, ‘No, what happened, what happened? Shawn can’t have got stabbed’.
“I started to talk to the guy. I said, ‘What happened, tell me what happened’. I was a bit more calm at that point. He said, ‘Shawn got stabbed’. I asked if he was ok and he said, ‘No, Shawn got stabbed and he passed away’.
“I said, ‘Are you sure it’s Shawn? Can you put the camera on so that I can see if it’s Shawn’s body on the ground?’ But he said they had already screened it off.
“Then about five minutes later a police officer phoned me and said, ‘I’m some sad news for you. Shawn got stabbed and he passed away. That’s when my heart broke. The news was rough. It wasn’t like someone saying it gentle, it was ‘Shawn got stabbed and he died’.”
Derron Harrigan, Shawn’s friend, later told Suresh and Maneshwary how Shawn bravely told him, ‘Run bro’ as he was overpowered by his attackers. “He was thinking of his friend,” said Suresh. “We’re very proud of him for that. He always looked out for people. He was our hero.”
The following day detectives broke the news that they had arrested two 12-year-olds for Shawn’s murder.
“I didn’t take it seriously,” said Suresh. “I couldn’t imagine two 12-year-olds killing Shawn, because he was very tall and strong.
“I didn’t know any details about why it happened at that point, just that they were so young. I didn’t believe it, but the detectives said they had strong evidence.”
