Teen boys await sentence for brutal murder

Ana Kriégel

 

By Anthony Neeson

The parents of a Dublin schoolgirl who was brutally murdered by two fourteen-year-old boys have described their daughter as “a dream come true.”

The two boys who murdered Ana Kriégel in Lucan, Dublin, just over a year ago were 13 at the time of the murder. They have been granted anonymity because of their age.

The jury found that the first boy murdered Ana by causing severe and extensive injuries to her head and neck. He also sexually assaulted her. The second boy lured her from her home knowing what was going to happen to her on May 14 last year.

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He watched the assault and covered up afterward.

Ana had left her home, going with the second accused boy who told her that his friend wanted to see her.

Three days later Ana’s naked body was found inside a disused farmhouse, three kilometers from her home.

The trial lasted seven weeks and heard from sixty witnesses.

The jury had heard that there were sixty areas of injury on the girl’s body.

The jury in the trial were not told that the first boy had 5001 images on two mobile phones, a “vast amount” of which were pornographic.

In light of the convictions, the Central Criminal Court has ordered Facebook and Twitter to remove any photographs or material that could identify the two boys convicted of the murder.

Mr. Justice Michael White said the publication of anything that identified them would be subject to a contempt of court application.

Born in Novokuznetsk in western Siberia, Ana Kriégel was adopted by her parents when she was two-and-a half years old.

Outside court Ana’s parents, Patrick and Geraldine, spoke briefly to the media.

Patrick said: “Ana was our strength.”

His wife added: “and Ana was a dream come true to us and she always will be. She’ll stay in our hearts forever loved and forever cherished. We love you Ana.”

Meanwhile, the two boys convicted of the murder will be sentences in mid-July

The boys, known as Boy A and Boy B, will be held in custody in Oberstown detention center until sentencing.

As the two boys are children, they do not face the mandatory life sentence for murder as would be the case if they were adults. However, the court does have the discretion to impose a life sentence.

According to a report in the Journal.ie, relevant laws relating to how children are dealt with in the criminal justice system are contained in the Children Act, 2001.

The two boys the youngest convicted murderers in the history of the State and their guilt was determined following an unprecedented trial.

Despite this, the judge may look to other sentences to inform his decision in this case, the report stated.

 

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