Mikey Harrison: Sentence for man who killed son to be reviewed

Michael Harrison attacked his son but then drove him to a park before calling an ambulance

A man who was jailed for life for the murder of his 11-year-old son will have his sentence reviewed.

Michael Harrison eventually admitted murdering his son Mikey Harrison, and the 41-year-old was sentenced on 18 May to life with a minimum term of 21 years and six months.

The Attorney General's Office confirmed it had received a referral under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

Officers have 28 days from sentencing to review the case.

Derby Crown Court had heard Mikey was found by emergency services in Thorpes Road, near Shipley Country Park in Heanor, Derbyshire, on 18 June last year, and died later that day.

Initially Harrison, of Eaton Terrace in Nottingham, claimed his son fell from a tree, but later pleaded guilty to manslaughter before admitting murder.

Harrison put his son in his van and drove him to Shipley Park as part of a cover story

The court heard he went "crazy" and threw a chair before punching his son and banging his head on a table.

A post-mortem examination found Mikey had suffered severe lacerations to his liver and multiple blunt force injuries to his head, arms, back and legs, with a medical expert saying he would likely have survived if help was called for more quickly.

Harrison stripped their home in a bid to destroy evidence linking him to his son's death, the court heard, which Judge Shaun Smith KC told the defendant was "a charade solely intended to protect yourself".

"What you did that morning ended the life of a little boy and emptied the lives of many others," he said.