The five teenagers killed in a wrong-way motorway crash in Ireland have been named as Kamil Pustkowski, Joey Carthy, Alex McCarthy, Jack Kennedy and Jeremy O’Brien. The boys, aged between 15 and 18, died after driving contraflow on the M9 in Co Kildare, crashing head-on into a family heading to Dublin Airport for a holiday.
The incident occurred after the group failed to stop for Gardaí, the Irish police force. Their vehicle, a stolen BMW, collided with a Hyundai carrying a family. A woman in her 20s and two women in their 30s were injured, along with a seven-year-old child. The woman in her 20s suffered severe injuries and is being treated at St Luke’s General Hospital in Kilkenny, while the other two female passengers are receiving care at Tallaght University Hospital in south Co Dublin.
‘Lucky Dip’ Gang Linked to Crash
The boys have been linked to the so-called ‘lucky dip’ gang, a network of teenage joyriders first identified by Gardaí last year. The name derives from the gang’s tendency to target areas at random to steal cars. The gang is thought to comprise some 60 members, with some as young as 14. In the first three months of this year alone, some 300 incidents were linked to the group.
Primarily operating by night, the gang joyrides vehicles to generate viral footage for TikTok and Instagram, following a trend of dangerous social media stunts. Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said the incident was made all the more reckless as it was done ‘for social media likes’.
Police Warning on Social Media Stunts
John Joe O’Connell, vice-president of the Garda Representative Association (GRA), said teenagers were trying to ‘outdo each other’ with videos depicting dangerous acts such as wrong-way driving. Those pursuing social media engagement are ‘playing Russian roulette with their lives and everyone else’s lives’, he warned.
He added that police were not equipped to tackle these kinds of high-risk incidents, including motorists that deliberately travel contraflow on motorways, following reports officers were advised not to pursue the stolen BMW. He said: ‘There’s not one member of An Garda Síochána trained in pursuit – never mind in dealing with cars going down the wrong way.’
Family Tributes and Aftermath
Pictures from the scene show one vehicle on the grass to the side of the motorway, covered in red tarp, while the other lies in pieces on the road. Images also show suitcases at the roadside, indicating the family was travelling to Dublin Airport.
A cousin of Joe Carthy and Alex McCarthy wrote on social media: ‘Rest in peace my two cousins Alex and Joey. May you get the best bed in heaven, watch over your mother and father and brothers and sisters at this hard time.’ The crash remains under investigation, with Gardaí appealing for witnesses.
