two 14-year-old boys convicted of murdering a schoolgirl

Two 14-year-old boys were convicted of killing Ana Kreegel last year, becoming the youngest person in the history of the state to be convicted of murder.

The jury returned the guilty verdicts on Tuesday afternoon, after 14 hours and a half of deliberations against the two accused, known throughout the trial under the names Boy A and Boy B because of their age.

Boy A was convicted of the murder and violent badual badault of the 14-year-old girl. Boy B was found guilty of murder.

The two defendants were placed in pre-trial detention in Oberstown until July 15, pending the preparation of probation reports, as required by the 2001 Children's Act.

Boy A seemed upset while Boy B was sitting with his head bowed after the announcement of the verdicts. Boy B's father shouted and was asked to leave the courtroom.

He returned soon after and kissed his son before sarcastically applauding the rest of the court. He also directed swearing at the investigating warden.

Leads away

The families of the two boys cried and kissed the teenagers before they were taken away.

Ana Kriégel's parents, who attended every moment of the trial, cried and kissed their supporters before thanking the prosecution team and the guard.

Judge Paul McDermott thanked the jury for its services and dispensed the members of the service for life.

"This trial was very difficult," he said. "I can not give you anything except, of course, sincere gratitude."

He told the jurors that they were free to go ahead and "continue their lives". He reminded them that the restrictions on discussing the case or revealing the boys' identities were maintained. The restrictions on the names of boys were also maintained for all the others, he said.

In addition to ordering probation reports for both boys, Judge Paul McDermott ordered that psychiatric and school reports be prepared for the date of conviction.

Brendan Grehan SC told the court that places are available in Oberstown and that Gardaí would be required to transport them there. Two Garda vans arrived shortly after to take the boys away.

Judge Paul McDermott thanked the jury for its services and dispensed the members of the service for life.

Pleaded not guilty

The prosecution had alleged that Boy B had attracted Ana to her home on May 14, 2018 at 5 pm, under the pretext of meeting Boy A, who "was interested" in Ana.

Boy A then violently badaulted and badually murdered his wife in the abandoned farmhouse under Boy B's eyes.

Boy A pleaded not guilty to the murder and badual badault "involving serious violence" by Ana Kriégel on May 14, 2018 at Glenwood House, Laraghcon, Clonee Road, Lucan in Dublin.

Boy B pleaded not guilty to the girl's murder the same day.

The majority of the evidence against Boy A was based on medico-legal conclusions linking him to the scene. Ana's blood was found on her boots and sperm on her top. A boot imprint similar to the boots worn by this boy was also found on his top.

Ana's blood was found on a homemade skull-type mask, gloves and kneepads were found in a backpack located in Boy A's room.

A boy A was seen in a CCTV system walking alone in St Catherine's Park to Glenwood House, shortly before Anna's murder.

He was then seen by a witness returning to the park with blood on the top. When he arrived home, Boy A told his father that he had been beaten by two men in the park but that he had managed to repel them.

His father took the boy back to the park and took him around to see if he could identify his badailants.

Gardaí was alerted and the boy will spend more than three and a half hours at the Garda headquarters to compile a photo of the men he said they had attacked. He was also treated for several injuries by his GP.

No witnesses

Gardaí did not find any witnesses having seen men corresponding to the description. Nobody either matched the descriptions observed on CCTV cameras in the area.

On May 15, the day after Ana's first disappearance, Gardaí called Boy A's house after he told her that she was in the park with Ana.

He told Gardaí that he had met Ana and Boy B, whom he described as one of his best friends at St Catherine's Park. He said that Ana had asked him out but he had told him that he was not interested. He said that he had tried to drop her gently but she was pissed off and had run away.

He told Gardaí that he then went off in another direction and was then badaulted by both men.

Gardaí asked Boy A and Boy B to follow the same route in the park. They said they had walked with Ana the day before. Sergeant John Dunne stated at one point that he had seen boys A and B exchange a "look" in the park.

Boy A was arrested for the first time on May 24, 2018, a week after the discovery of Ana's body in the abandoned house. He was interviewed with his father and his lawyer.

Gardaí told boy A that Ana's blood was found on his boots. The boy replied; "Are you making fun of me?" And "Are you really serious?" He denied being with Ana by the time she was missing.

At one point, Gardaí read to him part of Boy B's interview in which he stated that Boy A was in the abandoned house with Ana and that he had heard a scream.

When asked if he wished to make other statements, Boy A replied:[Boy B] is lying. That's all. "

Accused

He was charged the next day.

In his address to the jury, Patrick Gageby, counsel for Boy A, said that there was no indication that his client intended to kill Ana. He also suggested that some of the DNA evidence from his body could have resulted from an "occasional intimacy".

The lawyer stated that the evidence relating to the pathology did not conclusively prove that the injuries to the bad resulted from non-consensual activities.

The jury could decide that Boy A was present when the injuries were inflicted on Ana, said the lawyer. "But is there any real evidence that he planned this?" He asked.

The case against Boy B stems almost entirely from the eight interviews he gave to Gardaí, which lasted a total of 16 hours. During the interviews, Boy B changed accounts several times.

He first indicated that the boy had begged him to call Ana on his behalf so that they could discuss "relationship problems".

He called Ana and took her to the park where he said that he had "delivered" her to Boy A. He said that he had walked for a while with them before to leave and go home on foot.

At the end of his first arrest on May 25, the boy admitted that he was going to the abandoned house with Ana and Boy A and that he was going home on his own, he was hearing Ana shout.

Re-arrested

He was arrested again on 7 July after new evidence was collected. During the next three interviews, he made more admissions. He told Gardaí that he had witnessed the attack of Boy A Ana in the house.

Boy A "spilled" Ana down on the floor before she began to choke and undress her, he told Gardaí.

When asked what the boy A did to him, boy B replied that he was "raping" her.

He first stated that Boy A had a "blank stare" on his face during the attack. He then stated that he was wearing a homemade zombie mask. This mask was then found in Boy A's room with Ana's blood on it.

Boy B stated that he fled the scene after witnessing the young woman's removal of her top. He ran home where he tried to forget what had happened, he said.

Detective Garda Donal Daly told the boy, "You lie to everyone. Lie, lie, lie. You are in a corner and you try to escape by telling a story as you please. Do you see what it looks like for you?

Boy B said that he had done it. Det Gda Daly told him that he had left "a charade" play a few days after Ana's disappearance, while people were looking for her while he knew she was in the abandoned house.

"I did not know he would kill her," said Boy B. "I did not stop telling me that it was not real, it did not happen. I did not stop thinking that Boy A would not do that. It's not like him.

He also told Gardaí that Boy A had suggested, a month ago, to kill somebody. He said when he asked who, boy A answered "Ana Kriégel". Boy B told Gardaí that he thought his friend was joking.

Boy B's defense lawyer, Damian Colgan SC, said his client was afraid of Boy A, who was taller and stronger than him. He said that Boy B was "prepared" by his friend.

The lawyer stated that it was impossible for Boy B to be stupid enough to call Ana and walk her into a park filled with CCTV cameras, as he knew that his plan was for him. murder.

Boy B lied to Gardaí, acknowledged the lawyer, but he did so because he was traumatized by what he had seen at Glenwood House.

He was also afraid of Boy A, who was taller and stronger than him and knew the martial arts.

Mr. Colgan had told the jurors that they were to declare Boy B not guilty when they thought he was not aware of a plan to kill Ana.

The prosecution claimed that Boy B had lied for the sole reason of concealing his guilt.