Navan bus deaths trial adjourned for legal argument

The jury at the trial of the Navan bus crash which claimed the lives of five young schoolgirls has been released until tomorrow morning so Judge Thomas Teehan can hear legal arguments.

Barrister for Keltank, Derek Keneally, claimed there had been prejudicial media coverage of the legal proceedings in the case.

He was seeking a transcript of a radio programme which was aired just hours before the trial began, he told the court.

Meath County Council has already pleaded guilty to having no project supervisor or health and safety plan in place at the time of the crash.

It originally pleaded not guilty but later changed that plea and will be sentenced at the end of the trial.

Five teenage girls died in the crash – Claire McCluskey, 18, Deirdre Scanlon, 17, Lisa Callan, 15, Aimee McCabe, 15, and Sinead Ledwidge, 15.

They were students of St Michael’s Loreto Convent in Navan and Beaufort College, Navan.

Another 46 schoolchildren were injured in the incident.