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An appeal by one of the teenagers found guilty of the murder of schoolgirl Ana Kriegel against his conviction did not proceed on Friday and will instead be heard at a later date.
The appeal brought by the defendant known as Boy B in January was granted an early hearing date of April 24th. However, the teenager has since dispensed with the services of his legal team and appointed new lawyers, who are to apply for a new date to hear the appeal.
Brendan Grehan SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), told the Court of Appeal last month that the State had received the grounds of appeal submitted on behalf of Boy B and would file its submissions before April 3rd.
Mr Grehan said there were three grounds of appeal, two of which will be “relatively brief”, and that the third “will be a little longer”. He said the hearing was likely to take one day.
President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham said media would be present and rules preventing the publication or broadcast of the boy’s identity, family or school will remain in place.
The 15-year-old was unanimously found guilty of murdering Ana (14) last June and was sentenced to 15 years detention, to be reviewed after eight years.
Minors
Boy A and Boy B, whose identities cannot be published as they are minors, were just 13 when they murdered Ana in May 2018.
Boy B lured Ana from her home, knowing that 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. Boy A was also convicted of Ana’s aggravated sexual assault in a manner that involved serious violence.
Boy A was sentenced to life imprisonment with a review after 12 years, and eight years imprisonment for aggravated sexual assault. No appeal has been lodged on his behalf.
Ana Kriégel murder trial: The complete story - listen to part 2
Boy B is seeking to appeal against his conviction only, meaning no appeal is being sought against the severity of his sentence. He is currently detained in Oberstown Children Detention Campus and will be transferred to an adult facility when he is 18. His earliest possible release date is June 2027.