THE NORTH’S Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Alasdair Fraser, has written to the British attorney general querying whether murder sentences handed down to four men over the sectarian killing of Michael McIlveen (15) were too lenient.
Four men were given life sentences for the murder of the Catholic teenager in Ballymena in May 2005. However, the four received minimum prison terms ranging from 13 years to 10 years, which prompted the McIlveen family to claim the sentences were too lenient.
Michael McIlveen, known as Micky Bo, was punched, kicked and beaten with a baseball bat in an alley of the town, later dying from his injuries.
Christopher Kerr (22), of Carnduff Drive, Ballymena, received a 13-year term for the murder. Aaron Wallace (21), of Moat Road, and Jeffrey Lewis (20), of Rossdale, both in Ballymena, each received an 11-year term. Mervyn Moon (20), of Douglas Terrace, Ballymena, received a 10-year term.
PSNI chief constable Sir Hugh Orde said shortly after sentencing that he would be referring the issue of perceived leniency to Sir Alasdair, who is head of the North’s Public Prosecution Service (PPS).
However, Sir Alasdair, in a detailed interview with The Irish Timesabout his role and that of the Public Prosecution Service in the North, says he already had decided to refer the case to the attorney general, Baroness Scotland.
Sir Alasdair has asked Baroness Scotland to consider whether the case should be referred to the Court of Appeal on the basis that the sentences were “unduly lenient”, a spokeswoman for Sir Alastair said.
Baroness Scotland has not yet taken a decision on the matter.
Sir Alasdair, in the interview inside today’s newspaper, explains why the Robert McCartney, Northern Bank and Sean Hoey/Omagh cases failed to lead to any prosecutions.
He points to a general successful rate of conviction arising from cases he decided should be prosecuted, and how the PPS provides detailed information to relevant parties about why certain decisions are taken.
He also makes clear that low copy number (LCN) DNA can still be used in prosecutions. There had been concerns that the Hoey judgment had created a precedent that would rule out use of such evidence.
Sir Alasdair also explains why in an “infrequent” number of cases decisions are taken not to prosecute.
