Lawyers for Boy B submit f iles for his appeal
LAWYERS for one of the boys convicted of murdering schoolgirl Ana Kriegel have submitted documents appealing against his conviction.
Brendan Grehan SC for the Director of Public Prosecutions has said they received submissions on behalf of Boy B last Monday and will file their own submissions to the Court of Appeal before the legal term ends on April 3.
The appeal will then be heard on April 24.
Mr Grehan said there are three grounds of appeal, two of which will be ‘relatively brief’, while the third ‘will be a little longer’.
He said the hearing is likely to take one day.
The President of the Court of Appeal, Judge George Birmingham, said the media will be allowed to be present at the hearing but the rules preventing the publication or broadcast of the boy’s identity, family or school remain in place.
The 15-year-old, referred to in court as Boy B, was unanimously found guilty of murdering the ‘lonely and vulnerable’ schoolgirl last June and was sentenced to 15 years detention, to be reviewed after eight years.
Boy A and Boy B, whose identities cannot be published as they are children, were just 13 years old when they murdered 14-yearold Ana in May 2018.
Boy B lured Ana from her home, to where his friend was waiting to attack her in a derelict house in St Catherine’s Park, in Lucan.
He gave several different versions of events to gardaí, but eventually admitted seeing Boy A attacking Ana.
Now aged 15, they were unanimously found guilty of murder by a Central Criminal Court jury last June. Boy A was also convicted of Ana’s aggravated sexual assault in a manner that involved serious violence.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a review after 12 years, and eight years for aggravated sexual assault. No appeal has been lodged on his behalf.
Boy B is seeking to appeal against his conviction only, meaning no appeal is being sought against the severity of his sentence. Judge Birmingham has previously stated that when Boy B’s appeal is being heard, arrangements will be put in place for the hearing that both sides consider appropriate.
Mr Grehan said two grounds of appeal identified by Boy B’s lawyers were ‘fairly straightforward’ but another ground of appeal ‘might take longer’.
He said the case had attracted media interest that was ‘above
Boy B lured Ana from her home
The earliest release for Boy B is 2027
and beyond’ what was usual and the trial judge, Judge Paul McDermott, had restricted the media’s representation in court during the trial.
Boy B was not present in court for the case management procedure. He is currently detained in Oberstown Children Detention Campus and there are already processes in place for his direct transfer to court for the appeal hearing, the court heard. The earliest possible release date for Boy B is in June 2027.
Sentencing the boys last year, Judge McDermott said their first period in detention would last until they were 18, when they will be transferred to an adult facility.
He ordered reports on the boys’ engagement with educational, psychological and psychiatric services be prepared to assist those taking over their custody.
After the boys’ transfer to adult prisons in 2022, reports should be submitted in 2024, 2026 and 2028, he said. ‘They are not reports for the purpose of micro-managing the sentences, it is for the courts to have a very clear view of what’s happened during the course of their detention,’ he said.
How both boys faced up to their culpability while in custody would be a factor in determining how long they would eventually end up being detained, Judge McDermott stated.