Ana Kriegel trial hears one of accused described co-accused as 'weird'

The accused, who are both 14, cannot be named because they are minors. They have each pleaded not guilty to murdering the 14-year-old Kildare schoolgirl at Glenwood House, Laraghcon, Clonee Road, Lucan on 14th May last year. Boy A is further charged with the 14-year-old’s aggravated sexual assault in a manner that involved serious violence to her. He has pleaded not guilty to that count.

Justice Paul McDermott told the jury that anything said by Boy B in his garda interviews can only be used as evidence in the prosecution case relating to Boy B. Justice McDermott added: "Insofar as it is evidence in the case it is advanced as part of the prosecution case in respect of [Boy B]. It can't be used by the prosecution to advance their case against [Boy A]."

Boy B described his movements on the day Ana went missing. He said Boy A called to his home that afternoon and asked him to get Ana to come and meet him in the park.

He explained that Boy A wanted Ana to meet him in the park to tell her he wasn't interested in going out with her. Boy B told gardaí that he initially refused to go to Ana but Boy A started "whinging, saying, 'please, please' and I gave in."

When gardaí later asked Boy B why Boy A did not go to Ana himself he replied: "My guess would be that he was too shy or he didn't want to be seen with her in public because some people who were asked out by Ana got negative backlash."

He described the moment he told Ana that Boy A wanted to see her saying: "She just looked at me with this kind of weird face and said, 'really' and her face lightened up and she went back in to get her stuff."

Boy B walked with Ana from her home and they talked about vaccines as they were due to be vaccinated the following day. She also showed him what he described as a "scary photo" of her strapped to a chair. She told him she had never shown the photo to anyone else and he said he didn't know why she showed it to him.

They were walking along at about 5.15pm when they saw somebody in all black walking slowly and when this person turned around it was Boy A. He was wearing black "army boots" as well as his black clothes, Boy B said, and he had a backpack.

"Is [Boy A] a goth?" one of the gardaí asked. "No, he is more strange," Boy B replied.

Gardaí asked him to tell them about Ana and he replied that she was "different". He said she was "much more mature" than other girls and developed more quickly. After gardaí told him not to be embarrassed about anything he wanted to say he told them: "Her breasts were bigger, her posture was straighter and she was taller, much taller."

She was, he said, "kind of like, outcasted," and he added: "She wasn't very popular. Sometimes I would see her walking by herself with her headphones in, just walking." He added: "I would consider her to be a lonely kind of a sad person. She has been through depression quite a bit."

He also described her as a goth, telling gardaí she dressed all in black and "usually would be in kind of like slutty clothes, like really short t-shirts or really tight trousers or really short shorts. All in all, she was just different."

Gardai asked him to explain what he meant by "more mature" and he said that she was "much taller" and had developed more than other girls. Explaining her lack of popularity he said she was not liked "because she is different".

She would be by herself most of the time and was "anti-social". She would dye her hair and wore "so much makeup on her face," he said.

He added: "If you asked her to hang out she would probably say no." He explained his use of the word "slutty" by saying she, "wore the kind of stuff that made her breasts stand out and her hips stand out. It looked like she wanted people to look at her by the clothes she was wearing."

A garda asked Boy B what he thought of Ana. He said: "I thought of her as a weirdo. Somebody who I should not be around." He said Ana did have friends at one time but he believed one of them stopped being her friend because she got "negative outlash" from her other friends. Boy B then told gardaí who his best friends were and described the games he likes and his interests, including Japanese cartoons, Youtube channels and various video games. He gave the name of his best friend who he described as "straightforward", "fun and funny", "kind," and "rational".

Talking about Boy A, Boy B said that he is "not really my friend any more since what happened."

When gardaí asked what he meant he said that a garda had told him that Boy A told gardaí that he didn't ask Boy B to call for Ana on the day she went missing. This was a lie, Boy B said.

He also told a story about an argument he had with Boy A over a key and added: "[Boy A] is weird. He is not a rational thinker."

He went on to describe an abandoned house he once visited with Boy A and two other boys. He said one of the boys had discovered a cow field and they all decided to go there. On the way, they saw the abandoned house and said: "Let's go there instead."

They went in and started exploring the different rooms. He described it as "really trashed" and a "disaster" and he said fires had been lit in different places. He saw some "weird spray paint" including a pentagram or star with five points that he said is associated with the devil.

The trial continues in front of Justice McDermott and a jury of eight men and four women.