Judge addresses jury in Ana Kriégel murder trial

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott continued summing up the law and evidence for the jury in the trial of two teenage boys accused of murdering 14-year-old Ana Kriégel. The proceedings were reported on 11 June 2019.

Both boys denied murdering her in an abandoned house in Lucan on 14 May 2018. Boy A also denied violently sexually assaulting her.

The judge said the prosecution relied on alleged lies as evidence of guilt, particularly against Boy B. He cautioned that lies alone might not indicate guilt: to rely on one, the prosecution had to establish that it was motivated by a realisation of guilt and fear of the truth, with no innocent explanation.

The judge said jurors might find Boy B had made partial admissions in his final interviews, but he had also denied knowing of an intention by Boy A to kill Ana or assisting the murder. If his account was true, credible or reasonably possibly true, they had to acquit. Rejecting some or all of it did not itself establish guilt.

Mr Justice McDermott said reasonable doubt about an intention to kill or cause serious injury required acquittal. Boy B’s presence at the scene was not participation and did not justify a murder conviction; the prosecution had to establish beyond reasonable doubt that he knew what Boy A was going to do.

On the aggravated sexual assault charge against Boy A, the judge said jurors had to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the assault was of an aggravated nature to convict.