Family agony as macheté killers caged for 8 years

Victim Shawn's parents blast sentences

- SASKIA ROWLANDS

SHAWN Seesahai's gutted parents called for tougher sentences after his killers were detained for minimum terms of just eight-and-a-half years.

Shawn, 19, was stabbed in the heart with a machete by two 12-year-olds in a frenzied park ambush last year.

His killers, who cannot be named, could be free by their 20th birthdays.

Family representative Dorothea Hodge read a statement on behalf of Shawn's parents Maneshwary and Suresh after yesterday's sentencing hearing.

She said: "The family had hoped that the sentence handed down today would reflect this abhorrent violence.