One of the two boys convicted of the murder of 14-year-old schoolgirl Ana Kriegel in Dublin in 2018 has withdrawn his appeal against the conviction.

The appeal by Boy B, who cannot be named, had been due to get underway today (5 October), but the boy’s lawyers told a brief hearing of the Court of Appeal that he wanted to withdraw the appeal.

According to The Irish Times, Mr Justice John Edwards, presiding, asked Boy B directly if he had consulted his lawyers, if he understood the implications of a decision to withdraw, and if it was his wish to have the appeal withdrawn.

“It is,” he replied.

Condolences

The judge said that that concluded matters, and offered his condolences to the Kriegel family, some of whom were in court.

Boy B was sentenced in 2019 to 15 years' detention, with a review of the sentence after eight years.

At a previous hearing, the Court of Appeal had refused to allow Boy B’s lawyers permission to introduce fresh evidence that was not heard at the trial.

James Dwyer SC, for Boy B, had said that two eminent child psychologists had examined Boy B’s garda interviews, and found the “mind of Boy B was substantially overborne” by the interviews.