Kriégel case: No complaint to gardaí over accidental naming of convicted boy on radio

Court reporter named boy on Red FM during discussion about Garda memos in trial

Gardaí in Cork have received no complaint about an accidental naming of one of the boys convicted of the murder of Ana Kriégel during a discussion on a local radio station.

As a result, gardaí have not begun any investigation into the incident, The Irish Times has learned.

Garda sources confirmed they had not received any complaint about the broadcast on the Neil Prendeville Show on Red FM on Wednesday morning when a reporter, who covered the trial, inadvertently named one of the boys when discussing the case.

Presenter Neil Prendeville moved immediately to close down the discussion after the reporter, in the course of discussing Garda memos of interview with Boy B, inadvertently mentioned Boy A’s name.

READ MORE

“Sorry about that my friend, I’ll have to call it a day there at this point in time because there could be issues going forward – we’ll have to wait and see what happens at sentencing though because these boys are under the age of 18 and cannot be identified until then,” said Mr Prendeville.

Mr Prendeville could not be contacted for comment and made no reference to the incident on Thursday’s show. It is the flagship programme on Red FM, a station which The Irish Times has a 17.6pc stake in following its acquisition of the Landmark Media Group which also owned The Irish Examiner.

Gardaí have already issued a warning to social media users and others that sharing images of children who have appeared before the criminal courts is in breach of the Children’s Act 2001 which is designed to protect children in the criminal justice system. A court order is also in place to protect the identity of the two boys.

Barry Roche

Barry Roche

Barry Roche is Southern Correspondent of The Irish Times