Four men guilty of the sectarian murder of a Catholic schoolboy in Northern Ireland were sentenced to life imprisonment today.
The four were handed minimum terms ranging from 13 years to 10 years at Antrim Crown Court for killing 15-year-old Michael McIlveen in the County Antrim town of Ballymena in May 2006.
Another man convicted of the teenager’s manslaughter was given a three-year suspended sentence.
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 of the town after a row involving a group of Protestant teenagers.
He died hours later in hospital.
Earlier this year Aaron Wallace (21) of Moat Road, Ballymena, Christopher Kerr (22) of Carnduff Drive, and Jeffrey Lewis, 20, of Rossdale, also in the town, were found guilty of his murder.
At the start of the trial Mervyn Moon (20) of Douglas Terrace, Ballymena, pleaded guilty to the murder.
Today, Judge Mr 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.
Christopher McLeister (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 (18) of Condiere Avenue, who was found guilty of affray and criminal damage, was sentenced to a total of 10 months while Peter McMullen (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 parents and sisters sitting in the front row of the court with their backs to the seven suited accused in the dock, the judge acknowledged the pain the killing had inflicted on the McIlveen family.
“As I have said, 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.
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."