Gardaí who followed car before M9 crash “acted appropriately” – Watchdog finds

On August 16, five teenage boys died after the BMW they were in was driven the wrong way down the M9 and crashed into another car.

The five boys were Joey Carthy (15) and Jack Kennedy (17) from Athy, Co Kildare; Alex McCarthy (17) and the driver Jeremy O’Brien (18) from Carlow, and Kamil Pustkowski (17) from Limerick.

Sisters Ella Hendricken, Niamh Kinsella and Alma Kinsella, aged in their 20s and 30s, and a 7 year-old boy, believed to be the son of one of the sisters, were on their way to Dublin Airport for a family wedding in England at the time of the crash near Moone, Co Kildare, and remain in hospital.

Gardai had briefly pursued the teenager’s BMW earlier that night because it was suspected of involvement in attempted burglaries and attempted car thefts, and the matter was referred to Fiosrú for investigation.

They did not follow the car onto the M9.

Gardaí involved have now been formally cleared of any wrongdoing

Fiosrú, the Office of the Police Ombudsman in Ireland formerly known as GSOC, said Gardaí “acted in accordance with the law as well as relevant Garda policies and procedures”.

Other garda units also attempted to place a stopping device at an appropriate location, Fiosrú said.

The M9 investigation marked the sixth referral to the police ombudsman between 2021 and 2026 relating to garda interactions with vehicles being driven the wrong way on motorways and national roads.

Police Ombudsman, Emily Logan, said: “Fiosrú’s investigation was independent of gardaí and aimed to understand events leading up to the collision.

“It found that gardaí acted appropriately, within the law, and in line with relevant policies and procedures as determined by the Garda Commissioner.”

“This was a fairly straight forward case as the gardai who interacted with this car stood down the moment they were directed to when the BMW drove the wrong way down the motorway,” a source said.

“While there have been instances where gardaí have been under investigation for several years, this one appears clear cut and the gardaí involved cleared.”

Gardaí are understood to be preparing a file for the local coroner for an inquest into the teenager’s deaths as those responsible for the collision are now deceased with no criminal prosecution to be brought.

The Oireachtas Justice Committee heard this week that there are around 40 garda instructors currently undergoing training with UK police forces to be trained in pursuit instructing.