The grandmother of a 12 year old machete murderer whose brutal crime shocked the UK has issued an extraordinary defence of the boy.

Despite a mountain of evidence against her grandson, the woman – who we cannot name for legal reasons – told MailOnline: ‘He’s a lovely boy….he never committed this crime’

The boy, who is not shown in pictures, and his friend, also 12, killed Shawn Seesahai, 19, last November in an unprovoked attack on Stowlawn playing fields in East Park, Wolverhampton.

The pair, who cannot be named, are believed to be the youngest convicted of murder since James Bulger’s killers were detained in 1993.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, the grandmother said: ‘He’s a lovely boy who comes from a large family and we are all supporting him. This is not someone who is from a broken home. 

Shawn Seesahai, 19, was killed in a brutal attack Wolverhampton park in November 2023

Pictured here is the second 12-year-old boy convicted of murdering Mr Seesahai.

‘Some of the family have already been to see him and he’s very positive and is still smiling because he’s confident that the truth will come out – we all are. He’s not down at all because he never committed this crime.’

The grandmother invited MailOnline into her home to show how well maintained it is and to and meet her frail, bedbound husband, who is the boy’s grandfather.

She said: ‘Look at our home, see how well lovely it is. Does this look like it belongs to someone who is part of a troubled family? That’s not us at all. Our grandson is a big, part of this family. He loves us and we love him.

‘My husband had a stroke several years ago and is confined to the bed. My grandson comes here regularly to look after him, as do all the other grandchildren. Does that sound like a killer to you?’

An image retrieved from a phone of one of the boys showing long knives and swords on a bed

She indicated that her grandson was influenced and ‘easily led’ by his friend, who she claimed, came from a more troubled background.

She said: ‘I never actually met his friend but that’s what people are telling me. My grandson is not a killer, he’s just not that kind of boy.’

She revealed that her grandson is a keen basketball fan and also enjoys playing video games and was not obsessed by knives or violence. He lives with his parents in Wolverhampton both of whom were in court during the trial along with dozens of other family members.

Maintaining his innocence, she said: ‘He is the victim of a miscarriage of justice and the whole family will be meeting over the coming days to discuss what we need to do next to challenge this conviction.

‘He never did this, and we will make sure that the truth comes out when the time is right. We are all being very, very positive.’

A month-long trial at Nottingham Crown Court was told Mr Seesahai was shoulder-barged by the smaller of the two defendants, who ‘often’ carried a machete with a 42.5cm-long blade, before being punched, kicked, stamped on and ‘chopped’ at with the weapon.

The victim’s friend told the trial he was forced to run for his life, but 19-year-old Mr Seesahai stumbled as he tried to flee from the boys on Wolverhampton’s Stowlawn playing fields on November 13 last year.

The court heard that they attacked the victim with such force that in one blow the machete almost passed through his body.

Mr Seesahai was pronounced dead at 9.11pm on November 13 last year after police were called to the scene at 8.37pm.

His two killers live close to each other on a Wolverhampton council estate and attended the same school.

Locals described the two as being part of a local gang who often walked around wearing balaclavas and bandanas and were obsessed by gang culture.

One said: ‘I lived close to one of the boys and he was a complete terror. He had only been on the estate for a short time but along with his pals, they caused havoc.

‘They would smash windows, let off fireworks, steal from the local shops and cut the wires on the lampposts. It was non-stop, just one thing after another.’

During the trial, prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC said Shawn and his friend ended up in a confrontation with the two killers – who had been ‘roaming the streets’ with the machete – while killing time wandering through Stowlawn playing fields as Mr Jamal visited his partner.

Prosecutors say the two 12-year-olds, acted together to kill Mr Seesahai after he ‘shoulder-brushed’ them by a bench. But the two youngsters blamed one another for the murder.

Mr Seesahai had travelled to the UK with friend Deron Harrigan, primarily because he needed cateracts surgery which was unavailable on Anguilla. He settled in Handsworth, Birmingham, and jurors heard the pair travelled to Wolverhampton that November evening with a third man, Jamal Clarke, because Mr Clarke wanted to visit his girlfriend in the city.

Mr Harrigan told jurors how he had run for his life after the two boys launched the attack with the blade and turned around to see his friend on the floor and fatally wounded.

The Snapchat messages the two killers sent to each other after they killed Suresh Seesahai

Having been left traumatised by the ordeal, he returned to Anguilla after the murder and gave evidence from the island via a video link. The witness said: ‘It was a big blade, something similar to a machete. He pulled it out of the sheath from his waist. Shawn told me to run.’

The witness said that as the pair ran, Mr Seesahai tripped and was attacked.

Prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC said the victim had ‘offered no violence and ‘done nothing to offend the two boys’. A girl at the scene with the youths said she saw the boys ‘punching’ and ‘kicking’ their victim as he lay on the floor. It was not ‘unusual’ that the boy who admitted possessing the knife had a machete as he ‘often’ carried it, she claimed.

The defendants said the confrontation began when Mr Seesahai told them to move from the park bench they were sat on, then got the boy who owned the knife in a headlock.

In an interview released after the verdicts, Mr Seesahai’s parents Suresh and Maneshwary have said they will never be able to get over the loss of their 19-year-old son who always told them he would ‘shine’ and take care of them.

Suresh Seesahai said he feels sorry for the parents of the killers and only hopes that ‘justice’ is served for his son.

They also spoke of their shock at discovering the age of their son’s killers.

Suresh said: ‘Pay attention to your kids, if you see them doing something wrong then tell them. Check their room, sometimes you don’t know what’s in there so check it as parents.

‘This world is a different world, kids are dangerous now. If we don’t pay attention to them this will keep happening.’

Maneshwary, added: ‘12-year-old kids should be at home doing schoolwork and then going to bed.’