A Central Criminal Court judge has accepted that he cannot review the sentence he imposed on one of the two men who murdered schoolgirl Ana Kriegel when they were just 13 years old.
The case of Boy B, now aged 21 and who cannot be named due to protections for underage offenders under the Children Act, was raised on Monday before Mr Justice Paul McDermott. In 2019, Mr Justice McDermott sentenced Boy B to 15 years’ detention with a review after eight years from the date of the offence. That review was due to be heard today.
However, last year Ms Justice Iseult O’Malley at the Supreme Court ruled that a sentencing court does not have jurisdiction to review terms of detention imposed on child offenders.
Brendan Grehan SC told Mr Justice McDermott that in light of the Supreme Court ruling, the 15-year sentence imposed on Boy B stands and the Central Criminal Court has no further role to play.
James Dwyer SC, for Boy B, agreed with Mr Grehan.
Mr Justice McDermott said he has “no further function in the matter” and said he would make no order in relation to Boy B’s sentence.
He suggested that Boy B should receive legal advice relating to a further judgment by Ms Justice O’Malley, which sets out guidelines for sentencing juvenile murderers.
In the judgment, the Supreme Court also found that life sentences for a child convicted of murder should only be imposed in exceptional cases where the evidence showed the intentions and actions of the child could be equated with those of an adult.
Boy B previously lodged an appeal against his conviction but withdrew it on the morning of his hearing in October 2022. The Court of Appeal was told on that occasion that there was no appeal against Boy B’s sentence.
Boy A and Boy B were convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury in June 2019 of murdering Ana at a derelict house in St Catherine’s Park in Lucan in May 2018. Boy A was also convicted of Ana’s aggravated sexual assault in a manner that involved serious violence.
The evidence showed that Boy B lured Ana from her home under the guise of a “romantic encounter” with Boy A. Boy B took Ana to what Mr Grehan described as a “dirty, dark, derelict house” where he knew preparations were in place for their arrival.
Boy B had provided builder’s tape which was used during the strangulation of Ana and “voyeuristically watched as Boy A beat and sexually assaulted Ana Kriegel and took part in an extensive cover-up afterwards”.
He then lied repeatedly to gardaí and others and “did it all in circumstances where he admitted that Boy A had expressed an intention of killing Ana Kriegel a number of weeks previously”.
When approached by gardaí after Ana was reported missing, Boy B initially denied any knowledge of what happened to her and over the following weeks during multiple interviews gave different accounts of what he had done and seen. In his final interview, having been arrested for a second time, he admitted to seeing Boy A assault Ana and remove some of her clothing but denied that he played any part in her murder. His lawyers argued at his trial that he was an innocent bystander.
The jury accepted the prosecution’s case that Boy B lured Ana to the house by telling her that Boy A wanted to meet her, knowing that Boy A intended to kill her.
He watched as Boy A, who was dressed all in black and wearing a ghoulish mask, shin guards and knee pads, sexually assaulted Ana, having dragged her to the ground where he beat her repeatedly with a piece of wood and a large block.
Noone could suspect the evil that lay in waiting for her.
The trial, which took place in 2019, also heard about Ana’s life from her mother Geraldine and father Patric, who adopted her from Russia. Patric has since passed away. Geraldine described Ana’s love of dancing, swimming and modelling and how she cherished her time with her family. She was also vulnerable and was frequently bullied, she said.
In an emotional statement delivered during the sentencing hearing for the two boys, Geraldine said Ana’s family and friends were destroyed by her murder.
She added: “Noone could suspect the evil that lay in waiting for her. Noone could anticipate the darkness that swirled in the souls of those that murdered and violated her.”
Boy A was sentenced to life imprisonment with a review after 12 years, and eight years imprisonment for aggravated sexual assault.
Boy A will appeal his sentence in light of Ms Justice O’Malley’s ruling.
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