Another boy of 13 is charged with Ana’s murder
Do not identify youth on social media, says judge
A SECOND boy of 13 has been remanded in custody after he was charged yesterday with the murder of schoolgirl Ana Kriegel.
The boy, who cannot be named as he is under 18, is accused of the murder of the 14-year-old girl on May 14.
He was remanded in custody to appear again on July 18 next.
His appearance comes after another boy, also 13, appeared in court accused of murder in May.
Ana, also known as Anastasia, who was adopted from Russia at the age of two, left her home in Leixlip, Co. Kildare, at about 5pm on May 14. However, she did not return. Her parents were unable to contact her phone and alerted gardaí.
Her body was found at the disused farmhouse in Clonee Road, Lucan, Co. Dublin, three days later.
Yesterday the second boy, dressed in a pink hooded top, dark blue jeans and black trainers, appeared before Judge John O’Connor at the Dublin Children’s Court.
He sat on the defendant’s bench close to his mother who was seated beside his solicitor.
Judge John O’Connor introduced himself to the boy and asked him if it was his first time in court. ‘Yes,’ the boy replied and then looked around the room as the case proceeded.
Detective Garda Sergeant Damien Gannon gave evidence of his arrest and being charged.
He told Judge O’Connor the boy was arrested at his home at 8.15am yesterday. He was then conveyed to Lucan Garda Station where he was charged. Detective Sergeant Gannon said the boy ‘made no reply to the charge after caution’.
He was handed a true copy of the charge and, ‘his mother was present at the time of arrest and the time of charge’.
At this stage, the boy raised his right hand and quietly asked permission to use the toilet.
He was brought out to the toilet and re-entered the courtroom two minutes later when the proceedings resumed.
Judge O’Connor said that due to the nature of the charge, the Children’s Court did not have jurisdiction to rule on the issue
He made no reply to the charge
of bail. Legal aid was granted.
Judge O’Connor asked Detective Sergeant Gannon if the special directions, necessary due to the boy’s age, had been obtained from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The officer said: ‘The DPP has given them,’ however, he did not have a copy of the directions with him.
Judge O’Connor said the press reporters in court were aware of the reporting restrictions in the case and he gave a warning which he said was directed to social media.
He said the child had a right to a fair trial and, he stressed, the right to anonymity, a protection provided by the Children’s Act and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
He warned that no details of the boy’s name, address or school or any photos that would identify him could be published or any other details that would identify him.
Bail in murder cases can only be granted in the High Court.
The court probation officer was asked to check if there was a space available in the Oberstown detention centre in north Dublin to hold the boy.
Detective Sergeant Gannon said he had already inquired and there was a place available. The judge said he was obliged to check. Once it was confirmed there was a space to hold the boy, Judge O’Connor remanded him in custody to the Oberstown detention centre to appear again on July 18 next.
He allowed the boy’s mother spend time with her son before he was transferred but said that had to be done downstairs in the building.
Another boy, also aged 13, had already been remanded in custody on May 25 after he was charged with the schoolgirl’s murder. On June 27 he was refused bail by the High Court.
He is due to appear again at the Children’s Court on July 23 next. There has been no indication yet as to how either boy intends to plead.