Boy A’s appeal against life sentence for Ana Kriegel murder to be heard next year
Fiona Magennis
The Court of Appeal has fixed a date in February next year to hear Boy A’s appeal against his life sentence for the murder of schoolgirl Ana Kriegel in Dublin eight years ago.
The appellant, who was one of two boys convicted of the teenager’s murder, was in 2019 sentenced to life with a review after 12 years.
Boy A was also sentenced to 12 years for an aggravated sexual assault on Ana, which runs alongside the murder sentence.
Last November, Boy A’s lawyers successfully applied for more time to bring an appeal against his life sentence, following a landmark Supreme Court decision.
In a judgment delivered by Judge Iseult O’Malley in March 2025, the Supreme Court 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 were akin to those of an adult.
The ruling also said a sentencing court does not have jurisdiction to review terms of detention imposed on child offenders.
In March, Niall Nolan, representing the appellant, told the court that records relating to the defendant’s progress in custody would be “crucial” to his appeal against his life sentence.
He said the case would require “document-heavy analysis”, as he sought more time before a date for hearing was set.
Nolan told the court the legal team was seeking a significant number of records “in order to progress the appeal” and asked for a mention date in July.
He said the trial judge, Judge Paul McDermott, had made “certain directions on the production of reports along the way” and that these reports were supposed to be prepared twice yearly.
Nolan added that, unlike other cases, there was not a “pressing need to get this on for hearing”.
He asked the court for more time to allow the youth’s lawyers to assemble the appeal.
The barrister also made an application for a documentary junior counsel for the appeal.
Judge Kennedy granted the request, noting that a solicitor and two counsel have already been approved for the case.
She adjourned the matter until Friday, July 10th, when it was expected that a hearing date would be fixed.
When the case came back before the court on Friday, Patrick Gageby, representing the appellant with Nolan, said his team anticipated that this will be a “lengthy appeal”.
He said that, given the “history of the case”, he was seeking a hearing date next spring.
Gageny asked that a Probation Report, Psychology Report, and Governor’s Report concerning the various places where his client has been detained be prepared, with a particular “look backwards”.
Gageby said that because there are “voluminous records”, it would be of assistance if a risk assessment and an education report were also provided.
Counsel asked that the matter be listed “late next term” for mention.
Judge Isobel Kennedy fixed February 4th, 2027, as the hearing date for the appeal.
She directed that the relevant reports be produced and adjourned the matter to December 4th for case management.
The two boys, referred to in the media as Boy A and Boy B, were both 13 years old when they murdered Ana Kriegel in an abandoned house at Laraghcon, Clonee Road, Lucan on May 14th, 2018.
They were convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury in June 2019 of murdering Ana, with Boy A also convicted of Ana's aggravated sexual assault in a manner that involved serious violence.
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.
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.
