An attempt by the teenager known as Boy B - who was found guilty of the murder of Ana Kriegel - to introduce new evidence in his appeal against his conviction has been moved to a later date at the request of the Court of Appeal.
Boy B and his co-accused Boy A were found guilty by unanimous verdicts of murdering the 14-year-old in June 2019.
The boys were 13-years-old when they attacked and killed Ana at an abandoned farmhouse at Laraghcon, Clonee Road, Dublin, on May 14th, 2018.
Boy B has since launched an appeal against the guilty verdict, and the Court of Appeal had been due to hear a motion next month to introduce fresh evidence to proceedings.
However, at a brief hearing on Monday, court president Mr Justice George Birmingham said the previously arranged date of June 17th for the motion was causing “difficulty for one of judges”.
He also informed barristers representing the defence and prosecution sides in the case that a change to a later date was now being requested by the bench.
The motion will now be heard on June 22nd after Brendan Grehan SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and Andrew Forde BL, for Boy B, said they had no objection to the proposed new date.
Boy B – who was sentenced to 15 years’ detention, to be reviewed after eight years – was not present in court for the hearing.
At a previous hearing, the three-judge court was told that the defence would be seeking to introduce fresh evidence during the appeal and challenge the admissibility of matters that were not challenged at trial.
It was alleged during that trial that Boy B lured Ana from her home, knowing that his friend was waiting to attack her in the derelict farmhouse. He gave several different versions of events to gardaí, but eventually admitted to witnessing Boy A attacking Ana.
The boys were found guilty of murder by a Central Criminal Court jury. Boy A was also convicted of 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.
Boy B is seeking to appeal against his conviction only, meaning no appeal is being sought against the severity of his sentence.
The two boys are currently detained in Oberstown Children Detention Campus, Lusk, Co Dublin. Sentencing the boys in November 2019, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said that they would be transferred to an adult facility when they turned 18.