Teenager jailed for life for young woman's murder

A 17-year-old teenager has been jailed for life for the murder of 19-year-old Rebecca Kinsella in her Kildare home last year.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty today to murdering Ms Kinsella at her home in Grattan Court, Celbridge, on January 24, 2006.

Mr Justice Paul Carney imposed the mandatory life sentence on the boy and backdated it to January 26, 2006.

He ordered he stay in St Patrick's Institution until he reaches 21 years of age, when he will be transferred to Mountjoy Prison to carry out the remainder of his sentence.

Flanked by his parents, the boy kept his head down and cried as details of the horrific event were read out.

Det sergeant Ashley O'Sullivan told prosecuting counsel, Mr Patrick J. McCarthy SC, that in interviews with gardaí, the boy said he "didn't mean to kill her".

He told gardaí he picked up the baseball bat "and couldn’t stop". He said he did not know how many times he stabbed her.

Later, he said he was "sorry" for what he had done and that he was "sad".

Det sergeant O’Sullivan said Rebecca was beaten to death "in a very serious and vicious manner" with a baseball bat and two kitchen knives.

Post-mortem results showed she was stabbed 51 times and suffered multiple blunt force trauma to the head, trunk and limbs.

He said that according to Dr Marie Cassidy’s report, Ms Kinsella died from multiple stab wounds to the back of her neck, which severed her spinal chord.

The alarm was raised by Rebecca's mother who returned home that evening to find her daughter’s body lying in a pool of blood.

The first-year DIT Fine Arts student was pronounced dead at the scene.