Louth test centre acquitted on bus crash charges

A County Louth test centre has been acquitted on charges arising from the investigation into the fatal bus crash in which five Meath schoolgirls were killed on May 23, 2005.

Judge Patrick McCartan withdrew the case of McArdles Test Centre Ltd of Dundalk from the jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court following an application by defence counsel, Mr Roderick O'Hanlon SC, and directed that verdicts of not guilty be recorded on the two charges faced by the company.He told the jury that the evidence of Wesley Finlay, a DOE tester with McArdles had "very much put a spanner in the works and in my mind, undermined the prosecution's case".