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Boy. 15. Murdered.
What more needs to be said? Michael McIlveen, a 15 year old boy from Ballymena was brutally attacked at the weekend and last night died from his injuries after spending days fighting for his life in hospital. The family are understandably distraught. Michael was reportedly on his way home from the cinema when he was chased by a gang and beaten with a baseball bat before being left for dead.
The murder has come at a time when sectarian tensions are being stoked in Ballymena ahead of the summer season, and republicans are already trying to link it to Orange marches.
On reading a few posts on slugger, inlcuding one pointing out that accusations were flying over on bebo, I assumed it had been other kids from the town. On reading the BBC report on Michael's death this morning, it's become apparent that "four men and a juvenile" are being questioned by police. Four men?
I can only assume they mean boys over the age of 15, because nobody that you could call a man would gang up with 3 other 'men' to attack a kid this way. Not only was it a vicious and disturbing sectarian attack, it was pathetic in its cowardice. Given the way some of these people think, they may have no shame for taking away a life (sure he was just a Catholic) but for Christ's sake they should at least have the wit to be thoroughly embarrassed that it takes four of the scumbags to take on a child.
As you can probably tell I'm completely disgusted by the hurrendous attack. The family have my sympathies, as they should have from all normal people in this country. If anyone in the community knows who did this they have to inform the police, these prepubescent wastes of space posing as hardmen cannot be allowed to drag Northern Ireland back into the dark ages.