A NEW witness has come forward to claim one of Michael McIlveen's killers confessed that a knife had been used in the 2006 sectarian attack, his family has revealed.
Michael McIlveen was 15 when he was chased by a gang of youths in Ballymena and struck on the head with a baseball bat, inflicting catastrophic brain injuries.
In light of the new information the schoolboy's family has written to the coroner to ask for an inquest.
Michael's family has always questioned how the teenager had acquired a cut on his hand plus other wounds and on the 15th anniversary of his murder his sister told the Irish News: "We now know from the mouth of one of those responsible, that at least one knife was used".
"We as a family are entitled to know the full facts and circumstances of Michael’s death, and as such we have today instructed our solicitor to seek a fresh investigation so that all of the evidence can now be considered, and those who evaded justice be brought to justice,” Francine McIlveen added.
Michael McIlveen died on May 8 2006 after being felled by a blow from a baseball bat wielded by Mervyn Moon in an alley in Ballymena town centre. The teenager had been chased the mile or so from a leisure centre car park where he had gone to meet up with a friend.
As the gang pursued Michael, Christopher Kerr broke away and ran the short distance home where he retrieved a baseball bat from beneath his bed. This was the weapon Moon used to strike Michael on the head, knocking him to the ground where he was kicked as he lay injured.
Although the fatal attack was fuelled by sectarianism the murder trial heard that Michael had not chosen his friends based on their religion.
Read more: Michael McIlveen's sister says his murder 'broke us all'
Seven young men from the Ballymena area went on trial. Mervyn Moon pleaded guilty to murder and was given a mandatory life sentence with a 10-year minimum tariff. Christopher Kerr pleaded guilty to murder at a retrial on the basis he was a secondary party to the killing but accepted he had participated in the assault when Michael was kicked. He was sentenced to life and ordered to serve a nine-year minimum term. He remains in prison after absconding during a supervised visit to Belfast in 2018.
Aaron Wallace pleaded guilty to murder at retrial on the same basis while Jeff Lewis did the same ahead of a retrial. Both were ordered to serve eight years of a life sentence. All the men, bar Kerr, have since been released from prison on licence.
At the original trial a jury found Christopher McLeister not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter and he received a suspended sentence. Peter McMullan was found not guilty of murder by direction and Paul Henson was sentenced to nine months for affray and criminal damage.
Francine McIlveen said the family had always been "firmly of the view that the wounds on Michael were more consistent with a knife having been used. This was never before examined".
Family solicitor Darragh Mackin said the new evidence made it clear "the full facts and circumstances of the murder of Mickey Bo remain unknown".
"A confession of this magnitude cannot be left unaddressed and requires urgent examination. The horrendous circumstances of the sectarian murder of Michael McIlveen requires thorough examination so that lessons can be learned, and that all those involved are apprehended and brought to justice."
Read more: Michael McIlveen's sister says his murder 'broke us all'
