Amy Lynn Lee
A murderer aged only 14 hatched a chilling plot to lure a vulnerable young schoolmate to his house.
Michael Hamer produced a bogus letter from the deputy principal telling 11-year-old cystic fibrosis sufferer Joe Geeling to go home with him.
When Joe was there at his mercy, he battered him with a pan and stabbed him 16 times on March 1 this year.
He put the body in a wheelie bin and dragged it 800m to bury it in a park before returning home to complete his homework on the Ten Commandments.
The next day he turned up at the school in Bury, Manchester, as if nothing had happened.
Yesterday Hamer, a policeman's son, was given a life sentence with a 12-year minimum after pleading guilty at Manchester Crown Court.
The St Gabriel's RC High School pupil had spent weeks planning how to persuade Joe to follow him home, in a case which has drawn comparisons with the murder of James Bulger and with notorious child killer Mary Bell.
He made four drafts of his forged letter before deciding on a version he felt would dupe Joe.
Still unconvinced, Joe showed the letter to his teacher, who told him to take it to deputy principal Linda Foley.
But while he waited outside Mrs Foley's office he was intercepted by Hamer, who persuaded him to follow him home.
When Joe's broken body was found the next day, the letter was still in his trouser pocket, stained with his blood.
Detectives who investigated the murder have asked the Crown Prosecution Service to consider appealing against the sentence as "unduly lenient".
Joe's father, Tom, looked at his wife, Gwen, and shook his head as the sentence was passed.
In a moving statement to the court yesterday, the devastated father had described how proud he and his wife had been at Joe's courage in the face of his illness.
Hamer's barrister, David Steer, QC, told the court that in recent days he had admitted the murder was sexually motivated.
Mr Steer said the murder stemmed from "an adolescent sexual approach which went horribly wrong". It led to Joe accusing Hamer of being gay and threatening to tell others, at which point Hamer lashed out.
The judge told Hamer, now 15, he was guilty of a ferocious attack which occurred in a "frenzied few minutes" and triggered by Joe spurning his advances.
"Joe was clearly an intensely loved member of a close and devoted family," he said.
"You have taken Joe from them and damaged the lives of all who loved him."
Police are convinced Hamer had always intended to kill Joe, after fantasising about having power over younger boys.
He picked on Joe simply because he was "perceived as weak" because of his cystic fibrosis.
Joe's body was found in Whitehead Park by a police dog, buried under a pile of twigs, stones and rubbish.
Can I ask, what is the point in giving this vicious young man a life sentence, when he may well be released from prison in only twelve years? Twelve years seems like a pittance for the murder of an innocent young boy who had no chance of defending himself.
What are your thoughts on this? Should Michael Hamer have received a longer prison term?
Michael Hamer produced a bogus letter from the deputy principal telling 11-year-old cystic fibrosis sufferer Joe Geeling to go home with him.
When Joe was there at his mercy, he battered him with a pan and stabbed him 16 times on March 1 this year.
He put the body in a wheelie bin and dragged it 800m to bury it in a park before returning home to complete his homework on the Ten Commandments.
The next day he turned up at the school in Bury, Manchester, as if nothing had happened.
Yesterday Hamer, a policeman's son, was given a life sentence with a 12-year minimum after pleading guilty at Manchester Crown Court.
The St Gabriel's RC High School pupil had spent weeks planning how to persuade Joe to follow him home, in a case which has drawn comparisons with the murder of James Bulger and with notorious child killer Mary Bell.
He made four drafts of his forged letter before deciding on a version he felt would dupe Joe.
Still unconvinced, Joe showed the letter to his teacher, who told him to take it to deputy principal Linda Foley.
But while he waited outside Mrs Foley's office he was intercepted by Hamer, who persuaded him to follow him home.
When Joe's broken body was found the next day, the letter was still in his trouser pocket, stained with his blood.
Detectives who investigated the murder have asked the Crown Prosecution Service to consider appealing against the sentence as "unduly lenient".
Joe's father, Tom, looked at his wife, Gwen, and shook his head as the sentence was passed.
In a moving statement to the court yesterday, the devastated father had described how proud he and his wife had been at Joe's courage in the face of his illness.
Hamer's barrister, David Steer, QC, told the court that in recent days he had admitted the murder was sexually motivated.
Mr Steer said the murder stemmed from "an adolescent sexual approach which went horribly wrong". It led to Joe accusing Hamer of being gay and threatening to tell others, at which point Hamer lashed out.
The judge told Hamer, now 15, he was guilty of a ferocious attack which occurred in a "frenzied few minutes" and triggered by Joe spurning his advances.
"Joe was clearly an intensely loved member of a close and devoted family," he said.
"You have taken Joe from them and damaged the lives of all who loved him."
Police are convinced Hamer had always intended to kill Joe, after fantasising about having power over younger boys.
He picked on Joe simply because he was "perceived as weak" because of his cystic fibrosis.
Joe's body was found in Whitehead Park by a police dog, buried under a pile of twigs, stones and rubbish.
Can I ask, what is the point in giving this vicious young man a life sentence, when he may well be released from prison in only twelve years? Twelve years seems like a pittance for the murder of an innocent young boy who had no chance of defending himself.
What are your thoughts on this? Should Michael Hamer have received a longer prison term?
Maybe.