THE JURY IN the Ana Kriegel trial is being played interviews recorded with one of the accused, Boy B, in court today.

Two boys, known as Boy A and Boy B, have pleaded not guilty to the 14-year-old girl’s murder on 14 May 2018. Boy A has also been charged with aggravated sexual assault – a charge he also denies. Both boys were 13 years old at the time of the alleged offences.

It is being alleged by the prosecution that Boy A murdered Ana and sexually assaulted her. It is the prosecution’s case that Boy B assisted the murder and knew what was going to happen. 

Today the court heard that Boy B, who is accused of murdering Ana Kriegel, told gardaí in a recorded interview that he “realised Boy A was raping her and I had to run”.

In an interview with gardaí on 25 May last year, Boy B said he saw Boy A start to attack Anna on the evening of 14 May 2018. He was rearrested on 7 July last year and gardaí then conducted more interviews in relation to the murder. The videos of these interviews are currently being shown to the jury.

Gardaí asked Boy B to recount exactly what he saw in the abandoned house on 14 May. 

He said: “They had their backs turned [to me]. He flips her then he gets on top of her and starts choking her. He starts choking her and slowly takes off her jumper, t-shirt. He takes off her pants – then just when he’s about to take off her bra he looks at me.” It’s at this point that Boy B told gardaí that he left.

Gardaí then pressed Boy B to explain further what he meant when he said he “realised what was happening”. 

He told gardaí: “I realised Boy A was raping her and I had to run.” He alleged that Boy A had a “blank face” which showed “no emotion”.

Asked by gardaí to imagine what he saw if he paused the moment in the house in his head, Boy B said: “I’d see Boy A on top of Ana taking off her clothes -  I’d see him in his construction boots, in his black trousers and black hoody. I can see Ana crying and her begging ‘no, don’t do this’ and I’d be there standing staring wondering what to do.

“I can’t see his face because he had his hood up. I can’t really see his face because there’s he’s perpendicular to where I’m standing. My brain realised what was happening and Boy A turns to me and turns his head. I see him. He has this look on his face – I can’t describe the look.”

Gardaí asked Boy B if he had touched Ana at any stage in the house. He said he didn’t and that the only time they touched was when she took his hand as they climbed over a ditch to get to the house.

In interviews conducted with gardaí at Finglas Garda Station, Detective Garda Donal Daly told Boy B that he was looking for the truth and nothing else.

Boy B described earlier in that interview how he walked into the house as Ana and Boy A spoke outside. He said he picked up a stick in one of the rooms and put it down. He said he picked up to “pretend that it was like a sword” but said he put it down as “it was too heavy and clunky”.

Boy B was then shown a stick that had Ana’s blood on it. He said that it was not the one he had picked up and that he hadn’t seen it before.

As the interview progressed, Boy B said that Boy A had asked him to leave the abandoned house. Boy B told gardaí in interviews that he didn’t want to leave and that he had gotten “suspicious” of Boy A. He said to gardaí that “whenever someone asks you to leave usually it’s because of a reason”

The trial continues.