HERE is the timetable of events which led to the murder of schoolboy Joe Geeling and the arrest of a fellow St Gabriel's pupil Michael Hamer:

Wednesday, March 1, 2006

9.15am: Joe is picked up by his mum Gwen from Booth Hall Children's Hospital where he had been receiving overnight treatment for cystic fibrosis and arrives at St Gabriel's RC High School. It is the last time his parents see him.

10am: Joe arrives at St Gabriel's in Bridge Road, and enjoys a normal morning attending all his usual classes.

12.10pm to 1.10pm: During the lunch break, Joe receives a handwritten letter purporting to be from deputy headteacher Linda Foley. The letter identifies Michael as his mentor and requests Joe to meet his mother Gwen at Hamer's home in Dalton Street, Elton, at 4.30pm to collect a number of books.

1.10pm to 2.25pm: Joe is having a history lesson and a number of his friends are discussing the letter in a small huddle which attracts the teacher's attention. Joe produces the letter but states that its contents are a secret. The teacher stressed to Joe nothing is "that secret" and he shows her the note written in red ink. She realises the letter is not in Mrs Foley's handwriting or signed with her signature. She tells Joe to go to see the deputy head at break time and advises him to go straight home at the end of the school day. She then seeks a more experienced teacher to discuss her concerns.

2.25pm to 2.40pm: Joe is seen standing outside Mrs Foley's office. Shortly before the end of break, the history teacher and her confidante see Joe walking with Hamer. Joe is asked if he has seen the deputy head. Joe looks at Hamer, as if seeking approval and reassurance, and says that he has. (The deputy head later confirmed she had not seen Joe). Hamer is asked if he is the "Michael" referred to the in the letter. He says "yes". At that point the fire alarm goes off in another part of the school and all the children and staff are evacuated for a short period.

3.50pm: Joe leaves school with a group of friends. They make their way to the Monkey Bridge' railway crossing leading from Bridge Road to Belle Vue Terrace. Joe stops and tells the others that he is heading back to go to the shop, presumably the sweet shop in Haslam Brow.

4.10pm: One pupil sees Joe near to the Blockbuster Video Store in Bolton Street. Two other fellow students see Joe walking close behind Hamer along Ainsworth Road, next to Whitehead Park and near Hamer's home in Dalton Street. Joe enters Hamer's house and the pair go to his bedroom. Hamer hits Joe ten times over the head with a frying pan with such force that the handle snaps off. While Joe is semi-conscious, Hamer goes downstairs to collect three knives from the kitchen which he uses to stab Joe 16 times. Hamer moves a wheelie bin to the back door and dumps Joe's body into it.

4.30pm: A resident sees Hamer pushing the wheelie bin through the streets. He turns left into Dalton Street, through an alleyway running parallel to and then along Kingsley Street. He cuts across Newbold Street and then into Whitehead Park using the path to the memorial, between the playground and the tennis courts, and heads toward the bowling pavilion. A witness sees a "spotty youth, about 5ft 8 ins tall" dragging a wheelie ban through the park and struggling with it. Hamer is seen by another witness ducking behind the wheelie bin while appearing to answer his mobile phone. He passes Lonsdale and Cameron Street before arriving at an overgrown area where he dumps Joe's body and covers it with rocks, grass, twigs, foam settee cushions, bed springs and other items. The body is very well concealed. A short time later he is seen pulling the wheelie bin back, but this time he is not struggling with it.

Meanwhile Joe's failure to return home straight after school concerns his parents Tom and Gwen, as the 11-year-old requires medical treatment to control his cystic fibrosis. They ring the police to report Joe missing. The police treat his disappearance with great concern and organise a series of searches. A number of staff at St Gabriel's are called back to help search the school and the grounds. Bury firefighter Roy Grundy, a friend of the Geelings, rallies his colleagues to join Joe's relatives, neighbours and friends in a massive search of Bury town centre. As temperatures plummet, police dog handlers, mountain rescue team volunteers and Greater Manchester Police's helicopter are also drafted in to help find Joe.

4.48pm: Hamer's mum Julie, who is at work, rings her son on the house telephone but there is no reply.

4.52pm: She makes a series of calls to Hamer's mobile phone and has brief conversations about his whereabouts and what time he will be home.

5.12pm: Hamer returns home and answers the telephone when his mum rings the landline. He cleans up the blood.

6.35pm: Hamer's mum returns home and questions her son about a dark patch on the carpet in the poorly lit landing. Hamer claims he vomited blood. She cleans up. Hamer completes his homework on the Ten Commandments, has a bath and goes to bed later that evening.

7pm: A search party checks Whitehead Park. Relatives in the group walk just feet away from where Joe's body is buried in a make-shift grave. The search is called off later that night as the temperatures dip well below freezing.

Thursday, March 2, 2006

7am: Joe's family are getting increasingly worried as he has still not made contact with them or any of his friends. The search resumes with a large area around St Gabriel's school again checked.

9.15am: Hamer turns up at school as normal.

10.30am: A police dog and its handler are searching Whitehead Park when they locate the shallow grave and Joe's body. Detectives seal off the park. Forensic specialists are called in to examine the body. A murder investigation is launched.

11.30am: Following sightings of Joe with Hamer the day before, the 14-year-old is taken from an RE lesson at St Gabriel's and questioned by deputy head Adam Loster. Hamer says he saw Joe on Ainsworth Road and had a very brief conversation with him before walking off. Teachers become concerned and alert police due to Hamer's changing stories. Joe's body remains in Whitehead Park while scenes of crime officers painstakingly remove every item used to cover his body as evidence.

11.55am. After further interviews by staff and detectives, Hamer is arrested on suspicion of Joe's murder and taken to Bury Police Station.

10.45pm: Detectives agree to suspend questioning Hamer further until the following morning due to the late hour. However, they are encouraged to speak to Hamer by his own solicitor. During the interview, Hamer admits killing Joe and, on March 4, he is formally charged with murder.