Make destroying a body a crime, man's family says

Mike O'Leary was murdered in 2020, and his body was burned by his killer

A family of a murdered man who were only given a small amount of his remains to bury are calling for desecrating a body to become its own crime.

Michael O'Leary, known as Mike, was murdered in 2020 by his friend Andrew Jones in Carmarthenshire, who then burned his body.

Mr O'Leary's sister, Lesley Rees said the family will have to accept that they will never know what Jones did with the remains.

His family, and several others, met the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) on Tuesday in an attempt to make desecrating a body its own criminal offence.

The MOJ said the families had been victims of "horrific crimes", adding "a review of homicide" was ongoing.

Jones shot Mr O'Leary, a 55-year-old father-of-three, in January 2020, after discovering he was having an affair with his wife.

He lured Mr O'Leary to his remote farm Cincoed, near the village of Cwmffrwd, and shot him with a .22 Colt rifle.

He then took the body back to his home where he burned Mr O'Leary's body on a pile of wooden pallets.

All forensic experts found of Mr O'Leary was a 6cm (2.4in) piece of intestine in an old oil barrel.

Jones was convicted of murder and is currently serving a life sentence with a minimum of 30 years.

Mr O'Leary's relatives are backing Helen's Law Part Two: Stop the Desecration

Ms Rees said: "When you lose someone to a murder it's difficult enough as it is, but to not have their body to kiss goodbye to or say farewell to, is a totally different experience.

"Certain countries like Germany and America have these laws already. I think it's about time we had it in this country.

"It's devastating. We had 6cm of Mike's lower intestine to bury and that's all we have at the grave, which is horrific.

"We will never know what he's done with the rest of the remains. As a family, we've to accept we'll never know what else he did."

Sian O'Leary, Lesley Rees and Caerfyrddin MP Ann Davies (right) attended a meeting at the MOJ with other families

Reflecting on the meeting, Ms Rees said it had been "very positive" adding that the MOJ were "keen to help us and progress things".

"We all discussed our own personal experiences and what happened to our loved ones and how the bodies had been treated," she said.

It was an "honour" to meet others in the same position and "hopefully together we can have a voice."

She said the MOJ were now planning to meet their legal team to see what the best strategy was to "take this forward".

"Whilst there's breath in the body we will fight for justice for Mike," she added.

The small piece of Mike O'Leary's intestine that was recovered is the only part of him the family were able to bury

Along with the families of other victims whose bodies were destroyed, Mr O'Leary's relatives are backing Helen's Law Part Two: Stop the Desecration.

It calls for the reform of ancient burial laws and making desecrating a body its own offence.

Helen's Law, introduced in January 2021, was named after Helen McCourt, 22, who was murdered in Merseyside in 1998 by pub landlord Ian Simms.

He never revealed the location of her body.

As a result of the law, parole judges must take a failure to disclose information from killers into account.

The families of Sarah Everard, 33, who was murdered by Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, and April Jones, five, from Machynlleth, Powys, also support the expansion of Helen's Law.

Mike O'Leary's sister said she promised their mum (left) to fight to make the destroying of remains a crime

Ann Davies, Plaid Cymru MP for Caerfyrddin, said Helen's Law Part Two would be an "essential step" in showing such cruelty will never be tolerated.

"Some families will never know what happened to their loved ones and will be haunted by unanswered questions and the absence of closure for the rest of their lives," she said.

She added: "At the end of the day, today's meeting is about the families. They are the ones who continue to suffer the unimaginable trauma of not knowing what happened to their loved ones."

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "These were horrific crimes, and we are grateful to the families and representatives of Michael O'Leary, Helen McCourt, Sarah Everard and April Jones for taking the time to discuss their concerns.

"The Law Commission is currently undertaking a review of homicide, including considering desecration of a body as an aggravating factor. We will outline next steps in due course."