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Geeling family welcome extended sentence

01/02/2007

The decision to increase the sentence of the young man who murdered Bury schoolboy Joe Geeling has been described as a "victory for common sense".

Joe's family spoke after three judges at the Court of Appeal ruled that Michael Hamer's original minimum 12-year jail term should be raised to 15 years because the original sentence was too lenient.

The attorney general Lord Goldsmith had referred the case to the court, claiming that a 12-year sentence was not an adequate reflection of the crime committed.

11-year-old Joe, a cystic fibrosis sufferer, was battered and stabbed by Michael, aged 15, in March last year. Joe's body was then dumped in a park in Bury.

Tom Geeling, Joe's father, said: "At long last, we feel we have achieved a more just sentence for our son's killer.

"We feel this judgment sets an appropriate sentence and is a victory for common sense. Hopefully, we can now draw a line under this side of events and try again to move on."

A serious case review, ordered by the Bury Safeguarding Children Board, is currently underway in Bury to assess the implications of the murder of Joe.

Councillor Maggie Gibb, executive member for young people, said: "The purpose of a serious case review is [….] to find out if there are ways to improve practice and so reduce the likelihood of a death like this happening again."



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