Murder two 'kicked boy on ground'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/7723038.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Two of the men accused of murdering schoolboy Michael McIlveen told detectives that they kicked him while he was lying on the ground.

This was after the 15-year-old was attacked, Antrim Crown Court heard on Tuesday.

A prosecution lawyer told Antrim Crown Court that the comments were made during police interviews.

In his opening statement to the jury, John Orr QC summarised answers the six accused had given to police.

One of them said he witnessed another man strike Michael McIlveen with a baseball bat, but admitted kicking the schoolboy on the head while he was lying on the ground and said that he did not move after that kick.

According to the lawyer, another of the accused initially denied that assault, but then changed his answer during police questioning, admitting kicking him twice and then only once.

A Crown QC asked the jury why would the men kick Michael McIlveen while he was on the ground, was this a 'friendly action' he asked or 'the furtherance of a savage and brutal attack'?

Five men in court on Tuesday deny murdering the 15-year-old in Ballymena in May 2006. A sixth has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentence.