Witness: Michael was knocked to the ground by ‘full pelt swing’ from bat
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Aaron Wallace one of the six people charged with murdering Michael McIlveen.
Michael McIlveen was "nailed" by a "full pelt swing" from a baseball bat before a gang kicked him more than 60 times while he lay curled up on the ground, his murder trial has heard.
Yesterday, Monday, a packed Antrim Crown Court listened to evidence from a key prosecution witness - a 17-year-old friend of Mr McIlveen's who watched events unfold and tried to intervene - in the form of a police interview video recorded soon after the attack.
The friend described how Mervyn Moon (20), of Douglas Terrace, first struck Mr McIlveen with the bat around shoulder height before, in the manner of a "golf swing", hitting the 15-year-old on the ground.
The friend was also able to identify four of the accused as being present when the attack took place - Christopher Andrew McLeister, Jeff Colin Lewis, Aaron Cavana Wallace and Christopher Francis Kerr. He further identified the latter three as having kicked Mr McIlveen on the ground.
The friend also recalled how sectarian insults had been slung before and during the Saturday night attack and that they had been called "all the names of the day".
According to the friend's evidence, Lewis, who had been involved in a fight with Mr McIlveen beforehand, had been "well drunk" but the others "weren't really as bad as him".
However, he said that Lewis was "putting as much effort into the kick as he could, like if you kick a football".
Meanwhile, Moon, who had been on trial alongside the other accused, dramatically changed his plea to guilty last Tuesday, September 16.
Following lunchtime recess, his defence counsel, Stephen Fowler QC, requested that Moon be rearraigned on the murder charge and when it was put to him, the accused replied: "Guilty."
Michael McIlveen's mother, Gina, wept and was comforted by family members as Moon, dressed in a grey suit, was led from the dock and taken into custody. He will be sentenced at a later date, following the completion of the current trial.
The remaining five accused - Ballymena men Wallace (20), whose address was given as Moat Road, Kerr (22), of Carnduff Drive, Lewis (19), of Rossdale, McLeister (18), of Knockeen Crescent, and a 17-year-old youth - still deny murdering the St Patrick's College schoolboy in May 2006.
All five are also accused of affray while Lewis and the youth face an additional allegation of causing criminal damage.
Meanwhile, Paul Edward David Henson (18), of Condiere Avenue in Kells, does not face the murder charge but it is alleged that he caused affray and criminal damage.
Over the past week, the trial has heard expert testimony from mappers and photographers. However much of the time was consumed by legal argument as Crown and defence barristers thrashed out the way forward, in particular concerning "technical matters" in relation to video evidence.
Cross examination of Mr McIlveen's friend was expected to continue today, Tuesday, as the trial moves into its third week.
The trial continues.
