Three of the five teenage boys killed in a head-on crash have been pictured for the first time after police revealed gangs of youths have been ‘trying to outdo each other’ online.
The youngsters were travelling southbound on the northbound carriageway of the M9 motorway in County Kildare yesterday morning when they smashed into another vehicle.
The collision left four others, including a seven-year-old child, seriously injured.
Kamil Pustowski, Joe Carthy, Jeremy O’Brien, Alex McCarthy and Jack Kennedy, who are believed to be aged between 14 and 16, allegedly stole the BMW they were travelling in.
Gardai are attempting to verify whether the boys, who were reportedly wearing balaclavas or masks, are part of the ‘Lucky Dip’ burglary and car theft gang in Dublin.
Post-mortem examinations will soon be carried out to establish a cause of death.
Three women, two in their 30s and one in her 20s, and a seven-year-old child were rushed to hospital, where they remain in serious or critical condition.
They are understood to be members of the same family and were travelling in a Hyundai towards Dublin Airport when their car was struck near junction three at around 3am.
Alex McCarthy was one of the five boys who died in the collision in County Kildare yesterday morning
Joey Carthy also died in the crash on the M9 motorway
Jeremy O’Brien was one of five teenagers to lose his life in the collision
The five teenage boys were driving southbound on the northbound carriageway of the M9 motorway in County Kildare and crashed into another vehicle near junction three
The Garda Representative Association (GRA) said its members were ‘all in shock’ after the ‘horrific incident’.
GRA vice-president John Joe O’Connell said: ‘This involved a stolen BMW that drove – trying to evade gardaí – drove the wrong way down the M9 and then a head-on collision occurred with this car of a family heading to Dublin Airport on holidays for a few days.’
Mr O’Connell explained the BMW had earlier failed to stop for gardaí and that it was his understanding that an instruction was given not to pursue the vehicle as it travelled the wrong way down the M9.
Asked if this was standard procedure, he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland radio programme: ‘It would be standard practice, and the command and control centre would be dictating what happens in a live environment – but the members in the cars have to make a split-second decision.’
Mr O’Connell said there were ‘numerous gangs’ of boys and young men ‘trying to outdo each other’ in social media videos depicting interactions with Gardaí, pursuits and wrong-way driving.
‘Our members are not going to follow down that route – we’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t, that way,’ he said.
The Kildare-based representative said the GRA did not ‘know what the exact answer is’ to address the problem, but added: ‘There’s not one member of An Garda Síochána trained in pursuit – never mind in dealing with cars going down the wrong way.’
Mr O’Connell said gardaí also face internal sanctions, discipline and possible criminal offences when they decide to chase in pursuits. He said garda cars have also been rammed by stolen vehicles.
Police said a car was travelling on the M9 in the wrong direction in Co Kildare before it smashed into another vehicle at junction 3 at around 3am on Sunday. Pictured: The scene on the M9 northbound
A forensic collision examination will take place while police investigate the circumstances of the head-on crash
Mr O’Connell said there was a need to ‘look at the sentences’ when these cases come before the courts, as he criticised those partaking in wrong-way driving as ‘playing Russian roulette with their lives and everyone else’s lives’.
He urged parents to talk to their sons about the potential consequences of getting into a stolen car ‘for the craic and the clicks’.
Friends and family have paid tribute to the five dead teenagers, who were described as ‘angels’.
In a social media post, a cousin of Joe Carthy and Alex McCarthy said: ‘Rest in peace to my two cousins Alex and Joey.
‘May you get a best bed in heaven, watch over your mother and father and brothers and sisters at this hard time. Left away to soon.’
In a separate post, she added: ‘God give your family the strength to get through this difficult time.’
Sharing pictures of Carthy wearing a balaclava, another cousin said: ‘Never in a million years would I ever (have) thought it would come to this Joe.
‘The thought of us never seeing you again. No matter where you were, you always put a smile on anyone’s face. Forever 15, my cousin.’
Meanwhile, a family friend said of Carthy: ‘Only a baby with his whole life ahead of him, most mannered little boy you were Joey.
‘Too good for this big cruel world, watch over my James he’s heartbroken over you. Your poor father and mother, Joey.
‘Please God give them this strength to get through this. Rest easy champ.’
A friend of Kamil Pustowski wrote: ‘My heart is broken, you’re gonna be missed so much by everyone. Rest in paradise, God is going to give you the best bed up there.’
A cousin of Jeremy O’Brien said: ‘RIP to my cousin. (He) was like a brother. (May) God give you the bed in heaven, you’ll be missed.’
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has described the head-on collision between junctions 3 and 4 as ‘horrific’ and warned that ‘in some cases’ vehicles are being driven on the wrong side of motorways for social media likes.
The previous weekend, nine people were injured in a head-on collision on the M50 in Dublin with a car travelling in the wrong direction on the motorway.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login