Boy aged 15 sentenced to life for Geeling murder

A 15-year-old has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of the 11-year-old schoolboy fatally stabbed in Greater Manchester in March.

Michael Hamer had admitted murdering Joe Geeling during a hearing at Manchester Crown Court. The murder was commited when Hamer, who attended the same school as Joe, was 14.

The judge lifted an order banning the naming of Hamer on hearing the gulity plea.

Hamer was told that he will have to spend at least 12 years in prison before being eligible for parole.

Cystic Fibrosis suffer Joe's body was discovered in Whitehead Park following a search that commenced after he failed to return home from school on March 1 this year.

Michael Hamer, who was 14 at the time of the murder, and attended the same school as Joe, had admitted the murder charge during a hearing at Manchester Crown Court.

The judge lifted an order banning the naming of Hamer on hearing the gulity plea.

Hamer was told that he will have to spend at least 12 years in prison before being eligible for parole.

Joe's parents raised the alarm after their son, who was due to attend hospital that day, failed to appear.

Following an extensive search, the boy's body was found partially concealed under debris in parkland. A post-mortem revealed he had been stabbed to death.

The court had heard how Hamer, who had been bullied in the past, had told psychologists that he had lured Joe to his home in order to make him feel what it was like to be bullied.

However, David Steer QC, defence barrister, said that Hamer had killed Joe because he had made a sexual advance to the youngster, which was rebuffed.

(SP)