Published Thursday, 07 May 2009
The four men guilty of Michael McIlveen's sectarian murder in Ballymena three years ago were given life sentences at Antrim Crown Court last week.
But the longest any of them will have to serve before being considered for release is 13 years.
On Thursday, Sir Hugh Orde said he is to write to the head of the prosecution service to ask if the case should be raised with the Attorney General.
"I fully understand, as do my senior colleagues, the family's concern in relation to the tariff, and which I understand is being examined by the Public Prosecution Service," Sir Hugh told the Northern Ireland Policing Board.
"I am writing to the director to seek an assessment as to whether the matter should be raised with the Attorney General in relation to a review of the length of sentence in some of those matters.
"Of course, the decision is entirely a matter for the director, but I am very clear that such a brutal and violent and unprovoked attack that leads to the death of an innocent young man should receive an appropriate and, indeed, a severe sentence."
Michael McIlveen, 15, known to friends and family as Mickey-Bo, was punched, kicked and beaten with a baseball bat in an alleyway after a row involving a group of Protestant teenagers in May 2006.
He died hours later in hospital.
Earlier this year Aaron Wallace, 21, of Moat Road, Ballymena, Christopher Kerr, 22, of Carnduff Drive in the town, and Jeff Lewis, 20, of Rossdale, also in the town, were found guilty of his murder.
At the start of the trial Mervyn Moon, 20, of Douglas Terrace, Ballymena, pleaded guilty to the murder. It was he who used the baseball bat to attack the teenager.
After last week's court hearing, Michael's sister Jodie, supported by her mother Gina, said the family was deeply disappointed by the decisions.
"The McIlveen family are unhappy with the sentences imposed, which we feel were too lenient," she said. "We all believe that life should mean life."