James Bulger's mother says guilty verdicts of two 12-year-old boys for stabbing teenager to death with 16-inch machete 'triggered' memories of her son's murder

• Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, both aged 10, killed two-year-old James Bulger in 1993.
• Denise Fergus offered support to Shawn Seesahai's parents if they want to talk

James Bulger's mother has paid tribute to the family of murdered teenager Shawn Seesahai by saying she wanted to tell them “I'm here if you ever want to talk”.

Denise Fergus said no one could understand the level of pain that comes from losing a child until they become a “sole member of the most horrible club”.

Denise, 56, has been a lifelong campaigner against knife violence following the brutal murder of her two-year-old son James by Jon Venables and Robert Thompson in 1993.

The death of 19-year-old Shawn at the hands of two machete-wielding 12-year-old boys “prompted” her to come forward and offer support to her parents.

The young killers are believed to be the youngest defendants convicted of murder in Britain since Thompson and Venables, both aged 10 at the time, were found guilty.

Ms Fergus, 56, told the Mirror: “I can’t say how sorry enough I am to the Seesahai family. The saddest thing is that I know what they are going through.

She said “nothing will ever heal” the hole left by a death like this, but stuck out her hand and said: “I want to tell them I'm here if they want to talk.”

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Shawn's parents, Suresh and Manashwary, have already spoken out in compassion to say they are sorry for the killers' parents.

James' mother said no one could understand this level of pain until he became a “unique member of the most horrible club”.

She went on to say that the pain of losing a child is “terrible,” but when they've been murdered by children, like James, it makes it even more difficult to deal with.

Ms Fergus told the newspaper that Shawn's young killers should serve an “adult life sentence” for their actions and be transferred to an adult prison at 18.

She speaks of the experience of knowing that her son's killers – who were both 11 at the time of his death – served less than eight years in a young offenders' institution.

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And Venables has reoffended several times since his release, now back behind bars for downloading indecent images of children.

James' mother said “shivers” ran down her spine when she saw that two 12-year-olds had killed Shawn.

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Seeing that they were “capable of such evil” reminded him of the feelings of his son's death all those years ago.

She said “lessons must be learned” and called for the two 12-year-olds to be placed in a rehabilitation program immediately.

Chilling Snapchat messages sent between Shawn's killers revealed one of them said of the stabbing: “That's what it is.”

The boys are believed to have become the UK's youngest knife murderers after stabbing Shawn in the heart in a Wolverhampton park.

After their conviction, social media exchanges were revealed involving them and a young girl witness who then went to the police station with her mother to make a statement.

The conversation recovered by police begins when one of the killers says on Snapchat about the stabbing: “Everyone is talking about it (sic), literally everyone, everyone knows about it.”

The other member of the couple, who were both convicted of murder yesterday at Nottingham Crown Court, then respond in a voice note saying: “That's how it is.”

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They then shared more messages, saying: “I'm scared, dude” – before the other said “I'm not”, followed by the acronym “CRDI” which means “I'm afraid.” form “.

The other then responds with a voice note saying: “I didn't say now (sic) because every time I talk about it, like I'm acting weird apparently, so (inaudible) back and forth. “

Family members of Shawn and the defendants cried and embraced each other in the public gallery as jurors found the two boys guilty of murder and one of them guilty of possession of a sharp article.

In an interview published after the verdicts, his parents Suresh and Maneshwary said they could never get over the loss of their son who had always told them he would “shine” and take care of them.

During a month-long trial, it was heard that Shawn was struck on the shoulder by the smaller of the two defendants, who “often” carried a machete with a blade 42.5cm long .

He was then punched, kicked, stomped and “chopped” with the weapon.

The victim's friend told the trial he was forced to run for his life, but Shawn tripped as he tried to run away from the boys at Stowlawn Playgrounds in Wolverhampton on November 13. 'last year.

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After refusing to answer police questions following the murder, the boys both testified to jurors, blaming each other for the fatal blow.

In addition to not seeking help for Shawn, the youths showed no remorse for what they had done in the 24 hours before their arrest – with one cleaning the machete with bleach and hid it under his bed.

Jurors heard one of the defendants posed, wearing a mask, with the murder weapon for a photo hours before the murder, and it was found there were 11 areas of bloodstains on his clothing.

The boy was also seen with blood on his hands following the murder, while his friend had a small area of ​​blood on his right coach.

Mr Seesahai, unknown to the two boys, was pronounced dead at 9.11pm after police and paramedics were called to the scene.

The boys are expected to be sentenced on a date to be set in July.