Victim's family slams killers' sentences

The family of a murdered Catholic schoolboy hit out at the jail terms handed down today to the Protestant gang which beat him to death.

While the four men guilty of 15-year-old Michael McIlveen’s sectarian murder in Ballymena three years ago were given life sentences at Antrim Crown Court today, the longest any of them will have to serve before being considered for release is 13 years.

After the hearing, Michael’s tearful sister Jodie, supported by her mother Gina, said the family was deeply disappointed by judge Justice Treacy’s decisions.

“The McIlveen family are unhappy with the sentences imposed today, which we feel were too lenient,” she said.

“We all believe that life should mean life.

“Michael lived for 15 years and not one of the defendants will serve this length of time for his death.

“While every defendant in the case now knows when their life will start again, as a family our lives will never be the same again without Michael.”

Another man convicted of the teenager’s manslaughter was given a three-year suspended sentence at today’s hearing.

Two others were also sentenced. One was given 10 months for affray and criminal damage and the other a conditional discharge for criminal damage.

Michael, known to friends and family as Micky Bo, was punched, kicked and beaten with a baseball bat in an alleyway after a row involving a group of Protestant teenagers in May, 2006.

He died hours later in hospital.

Earlier this year Aaron Wallace, (aged 21), of Moat Road, Ballymena, Christopher Kerr, (aged 22), of Carnduff Drive in the town, and Jeff Lewis, (aged 20), of Rossdale, also in the town, were found guilty of his murder.

At the start of the trial Mervyn Moon, (aged 20), of Douglas Terrace, Ballymena, pleaded guilty to the murder. It was him who used the baseball bat to attack the teenager.

Today, Justice Treacy sentenced all to life imprisonment.

The highest minimum tariff – the time to be served before being considered for release – was handed to Kerr, whom the judge said had shown no remorse for his actions and had lied consistently through the trial.

He said the fact that he had also gone to his grandmother’s house to obtain the baseball bat showed his part in the murder was premeditated.

Wallace and Lewis were given 11-year tariffs – lesser terms because they had no part in procuring the bat or using it, the judge said.

Lewis was also given an additional one month in prison for a charge of criminal damage.

Mr Treacy gave Moon credit for his timely plea of guilty and that he had shown clear and genuine remorse for his actions. He was given a 10-year minimum tariff.

He said the defendants’ young age at the time of the murder was a mitigating factor.

While noting that Moon had been heavily under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and that the other three had also been drinking, the judge said that could in no way be a defence for their actions.

“It thus appears that this lethal cocktail of drugs, drink, youth and sectarianism provided the context in which this murder occurred,” he said.

Christopher McLeister, (aged 18), of Knockeen Crescent, Ballymena, was given a three-year sentence suspended for two years for the manslaughter of Michael.

The judge said he did not believe the public interest would be served by giving him an immediate custodial sentence and said he was certain the defendant would not trouble the courts again.

Paul Hanson, (aged 18|), of Condiere Avenue, Ballymena, who was found guilty of affray and criminal damage, was sentenced to a total of 10 months, which he has already served.

While Peter McMullen, (aged 18), of Meadowvale, Ballymena, who the jury had cleared of murder by direction of the court, was given a conditional discharge for causing criminal damage.

In a packed court, Mr Treacy described the death of Michael as “a brutal and sectarian murder”.

With the teenager’s mother and sister sitting in the front row of the court with their backs to the seven suited defendants in the dock, the judge acknowledged the pain the killing had inflicted on the McIlveen family.

“Michael was only 15 at the time of his murder and its devastating impact on his entire family has been set out in a moving victim impact statement signed by his mother,” he said.

The family statement was included in Mr Treacy’s judgment.

In it Michael’s mother said: “For anyone to have their son taken from them so suddenly is a horrendous experience, but for it to occur in such a violent manner and the public attention that followed, only magnifies it.

“He is in our thoughts first thing in a morning and last thing at night.”