UK court increases sentences for youngest knife murderers in decades

The minimum sentences for two 13-year-old boys convicted of murdering Shawn Seesahai in Wolverhampton have been increased from eight-and-a-half years to ten years. The Court of Appeal ruled the original sentences were unduly lenient. The boys, who were 12 at the time of the crime, stabbed Seesahai with a machete in November 2023. They are now considered the youngest knife murderers in the UK since the 1993 case of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables. The Solicitor General referred the case to the Court of Appeal, arguing the sentences should be harsher. The judges agreed, stating the previous terms did not reflect the seriousness of the crime.