A specialist in braking systems has told a jury that the fact that the ABS was not working on a bus involved in an accident that killed five Meath schoolgirls significantly affected the outcome of the crash.

A garda who arrived at the scene of a fatal bus crash in which five Meath schoolgirls were killed has told a jury that he examined the underside of the vehicle and found two ABS cables were disconnected or broken.

The ABS system was not working in eight out of 18 vehicles tested by Bus Éireann four days after a crash in which five Meath schoolgirls were killed, a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard today.

One of the companies on trial for breaches of the Health and Safety Act arising from the investigation into a fatal bus crash causing the death of five Meath schoolgirls in 2005 has pleaded guilty to a new charge.

The driver of the bus which crashed three years ago, which caused the deaths of five Meath schoolgirls, has revealed he had never been told the vehicle was supposed to have an anti-lock braking system (ABS).

The jury in a trial arising from an investigation into a school bus crash in which five schoolgirls were killed has been told that a company knew the vehicle's ABS system was defective but failed to repair it.

Two companies charged over the Navan bus crash which claimed the lives of five young schoolgirls will have to wait until next year to stand trial.

A vehicle maintenance company responsible for the upkeep of a school bus that overturned killing five schoolchildren knew its anti-lock braking system was not working, a court heard today.

THE driver of a bus that crashed in Navan, killing five schoolgirls, has told investigators the rear of the vehicle skidded as he braked approaching roadworks, according to reports.

The bus driver involved in the County Meath crash has visited the families of the five schoolgirls who were killed in the accident.

MOURNERS attending the funerals of the victims of the Co Meath bus crash were told their deaths were not in vain if they prompted the country to think of the welfare of our children.

THE “saddest of all occasions” came to Meath yesterday and left a string of communities weeping for the worst kind of loss.