New witness claims Michael McIlveen killer confessed knife was used in attack, family says Michael McIlveen was fatally attacked in Ballymena, Co Antrim, in May 2006 Maeve Connolly
The alley in Ballymena town centre where Michael McIlveen was attacked. Picture by Declan Roughan
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 McIlveen s sister says his murder broke us all A primary school photograph of Michael McIlveen with his little sister Francine and older sister Jodie Maeve Connolly 10 May, 2021 01:00
Michael McIlveen s mother Gina at a shrine to Michael in the garden of their Ballymena home in the days after his murder. Picture by Alan Lewis
Francine McIlveen was 13 when her brother was murdered and the devastation affected every area of her life. She and her brother had attended St Patrick s College in the town but after Michael s death Francine found it impossible to walk the corridors without him. Not seeing him every day and not hearing his voice, it was just unbearable, she explains.