A 16-year-old Laois teenager who hammered a 14-year-old boy to death has been found guilty of murder at the Central Criminal court today.
After deliberating for over two and a half hours, the jury of five men and seven women found the youth guilty by a majority of 11-1 at 6.10 pm.
The mother of the victim broke down in tears as the verdict was read out. The accused showed no emotion. Trial Judge Mr Justice Barry White remanded the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in custody to St Patrick's Institution for sentencing on October 12th.
Mr Justice White said that a mandatory life sentence was normally handed down for a guilty of murder verdict, but said that "there is an exception when it comes to dealing with juveniles".
"I have the discretion on the issue of sentencing" he told the jury. He said he would have to take the teenager's "tender years" into consideration and added that "at the very least there is a psychological aspect and indeed there might be a psychiatric aspect to this case".
There were emotional scenes outside the courtroom as the victim's mother - he was her only child - thanked investigating Garda officers.
The accused had pleaded not guilty to the murder. He sat impassively with his arms outstretched across the back of the bench for most of the 8-day trial.