Gardaí investigating backgrounds of five teenagers who died in head-on collision on motorway

M9 Kildare Crash Victims, L-R: Alex McCarthy, Joey Carthy, Kamil Pustkowski, Jack Kennedy, Jeremy O'Brien

Gardaí are investigating the backgrounds of five masked teenagers — one aged just 15 — who died when they drove a stolen BMW at high-speed the wrong way down a motorway and collided with a car carrying a family.

Three sisters and a seven-year-old boy were struck by the stolen car on the M9 motorway, in Co Kildare, as they travelled to Dublin Airport for a wedding in England.

Two of the sisters, including the mother of the child, suffered serious injuries and are in a critical condition in hospital.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin and justice minister Jim O’Callaghan joined Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly in criticising the behaviour of people engaging in this behaviour for social media likes and reposts.

Mr O’Callaghan told social media companies they have a responsibility not to allow posts which glorify criminal behaviour.

The horrific incident happened in the early hours of Sunday when the gang of youths, all wearing balaclavas, decided — for a second time — to drive the wrong way down the motorway.

The five teenagers, yet to be formally identified, were from, or were living in, Carlow, Kildare or Limerick.

One of them, Joey Carthy, from Athy, only turned 15 last April.

Alex McCarthy, from Carlow, was aged 16.

The boys may be related, but this is still being confirmed.

Two youths, Kamil Pustkowski, who was living in Limerick, and Jack Kennedy, who was living in Athy, were both aged 17. Kamil was due to turn 18 next month.

The fifth teenager, Jeremy O’Brien, from Carlow, was aged 18.

Their autopsies are being conducted over a number of days this week.

Some of the teenagers are thought to have been involved in past criminality in the Carlow and Kildare areas, although it is not clear at what level.

Gardaí are still checking records of all five boys and sources suggest they do not appear to be involved in the so-called ‘Lucky Dip’ gang, a loose network of teenagers engaged in burglaries, car thefts and joyriding in greater Dublin.

The weekend tragedy was discussed at the weekly Monday management operational meeting at Garda HQ.

The horrific incident happened in the early hours of Sunday when the gang of youths, all wearing balaclavas, decided — for a second time — to drive the wrong way down the motorway.

On Monday, the Taoiseach said it was the second appalling crash in a matter of days due to the “reckless driving of a car on the wrong side of the motorway”.

Mr Martin said it was “shocking” that in some cases this reckless behaviour was “being done for likes on social media”.

Just over a week ago, one youth was left critical, and eight other people suffered injuries, in a head-on collision on the M50 motorway in Dublin.

The car had been reported stolen and was driving the wrong way down the motorway.

Garda sources in Cork also report juveniles have been driving cars, often stolen, dangerously and down the wrong way on roads in Cork for social media hits.

A video is currently circulating on social media of a car being driven at apparent speed the wrong way down a busy road, believed to be in Cork.

Gardaí were alerted at about 1am on Sunday by residents at a housing estate in Athy regarding masked males trying to break into parked cars in the area.

When a patrol car responded and travelled to the location, a BMW, with masked occupants, sped past them before heading the wrong way down the M9. The patrol car did not pursue.

Garda Representative Association (GRA) vice president John Joe O'Connell said it was standard practice for gardaí not to follow a car if it was going down the wrong side of the motorway.

He told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that in some instances young drivers were trying to "outdo each other", putting up "social media posts and videos" of their interactions with gardaí, engaging in the pursuit and then heading down the wrong way of a motorway.

"And they are doing these for likes and reposts [...] of their achievements in evading gardaí,” he said. “Our members are not going to follow them. We're kind of dammed if you do, and dammed if you don't.” 

He said not one garda member has "pursuit training" and called for a proper driving training framework so gardaí could deal with non-compliant stops.

Garda management sources said if patrol cars did pursue down the wrong way, it could easily “exacerbate” the risks, with the youths either trying to play a speeding competition with gardaí or driving in a more reckless fashion.

They said if gardaí did pursue and there were innocent people seriously injured — as in this case — or killed if could have serious legal consequences for the gardaí concerned.

The Irish Examiner understands the Garda Commissioner is finalising proposals for the Department of Justice that would grant partial indemnity to gardaí when pursuing cars, scramblers or e-bikes.

Mr Kelly told an Oireachtas committee last month that pursuit training was being rolled out but it would take “at least a year” to complete.

Mr O’Callaghan said on Monday he had spoken with the commissioner and that whatever additional resources necessary to prevent similar crashes happening in future would be provided to gardaí.

He also said a standalone offence for driving the wrong way down the motorway would be considered, saying such an action “is using a vehicle as a weapon”.

Gardaí were alerted to the gang of youths at about 1am on Sunday after receiving reports from residents of a housing estate in Athy of masked males trying to break into cars.

A responding patrol car spotted the BMW travelling at high speed in Athy before it went the wrong way down the M9. This car later exited the motorway and was spotted at a petrol station in the village of Kilcullen.

The BMW then proceeded to go down the M9 the wrong way for a second time. Gardaí positioned a stinger device at the next exit ramp at Junction 3, in the expectation the group would, again, turn off the motorway, but the BMW continued on at high speed and collided with the vehicle carrying the family.

It also emerged that given the precarious position of the BMW on the side of the road after the crash, which was potentially vulnerable to physical touch or movement of a garda, officers used a drone to initially check inside and around the vehicle for passengers. One of the youths was found underneath the car.

A detailed report from specialist Garda forensic collision investigators is being completed for Kildare officers.