The piece yesterday on the car terrorism on the M9 in Co.Kildare where five young men drove the wrong way down the motorway and crashed into an innocent family of four got a huge reaction. I therefore update developments today.
The five young men, all of whom died in the crash of their own making, weaponized a BMW to attack three sisters and a child. At 3.04am, the BMW being driven at high speed by the young men crashed head-on into the Hyundai which was being driven by the sisters.
Sisters Niamh and Alma Kinsella, both in their 30s, were travelling in the front of their second car, while younger sister Ella Hendricken, in her 20s, and Alma’s seven-year-old son Yemi were in the back seat.
Yesterday, a photograph of the three sisters whose lives have been changed forever, was released.
(L-R, Ella Hendricken, Niamh Kinsella and Alma Kinsella.)
According to reporting from the Irish Sun, one local who lived a few doors down in the quiet estate of Alam and her son Yemi said, “I used to see Yemi playing outside, he was such a happy boy. They were heading to the UK for a wedding with their aunties.”
A woman who has known Alma for 20 years and has lived a few doors down from her is also devastated by news of the crash. Speaking from her holiday in Canada, the woman told the Irish Sun: “I’ve been crying all day. Yemi is my son’s best friend. He’s an awesome, amazing boy. They’re an amazing family. Alma is amazing. On her lunch breaks she would bring my son and Yemi to the park for 30 minutes, get them ice cream, come back home. She’s just amazing. It’s so shocking to hear this.”
The five men have been named. The Gardaí believed that the BMW was sold (not stolen) on August 11 for €1,100 to an associate of one of the teenagers. I wonder where they got the funds for that? They also believe that the young men tried to break into three other cars in Athy before travelling to Moone. This morning the Daily Mail are reporting that “the same group of young men had carried out a burglary in the area just hours before they died. Garda investigators are also probing whether they were part of a number of attempted car robberies in the same region over the course of the night.
All five of the dead teenagers were wearing masks when gardaí came upon the grisly crash scene. Friends of the teenagers posted pictures of the young men wearing balaclavas and driving cars at dangerous speeds.”
It has also been reported that on the night of the collision that the men sped down the wrong way on the motorway at least on two occasions. Gardaí positioned a stinger device at an exit ramp at Junction 3, in the expectation the group would, again, turn off the motorway as they had once before. But the BMW continued on at high speed and collided with the vehicle carrying the family.
Meanwhile Irish politicians have implemented Standard Operating Procedure. They are looking to introduce a new criminal offence and blaming social media for this attack.
Unnecessary new criminal offence
Minister Jim O’Callaghan TD as well as blaming the five men for this horrific attack with a vehicle is proposing a new stand-alone offence of driving the wrong way down the motorway. A new offence of “wrong-way driving.” This is now amadán territory. You don’t need to have a law degree to suspect, to make an educated guess that perhaps, just perhaps, driving the wrong way down the fucking motorway at high speed might already be an offence.
For the record the Minister does have a law degree, three in fact from the same institutions I got mine – UCD, Cambridge and qualifying as a barrister in Dublin. Therefore I know that he knows that this is pure politics.
Don’t you think “wrong way driving” might count as an dangerous driving, an offence under section 53 of the Road Traffic Act 1961? That states a “person shall not drive a vehicle in a public place at a speed or in a manner which, having regard to all the circumstances of the case (including the nature, condition and use of the place and the amount of traffic which then actually is or might reasonably be expected then to be therein) is dangerous to the public.”
The Minister also wants an Garda Síochána to be able to pursue these criminals going the wrong way down the motorway, and will receive training in “high-risk vehicle pursuits.” If that sounds dangerous, that’s because it is.
First why do they need the pursuit if we already have the spanking new offence of wrong way driving? I thought the new offence was going to solve the problem – oh what’s that you say Minister, that offence will just be ignored the same way the dangerous driving offence is already ignored?
Secondly, I explained my caution on this issue yesterday. This has only been reinforced by the report in the Irish Times today that the gardaí are to get their specialist training from – wait for it – specialists at Devon and Cornwall police. They have a centre of excellence, allegedly. Excellence and Devon and Cornwall police are not words I’d usually put together in a sentence.
English and Irish readers should know all about Devon and Cornwall police from the episode of, when they told you the murder of Ann Widdecombe was a burglary gone wrong.
Devon and Cornwall police
Devon and Cornwall police have had a stinker of a week, it is fair to say. It would be funny if it were not so serious. Somehow the brutal murder of a high profile politician Ann Widdecombe has gone from ‘random burglary gone wrong’ to possible terrorist plot against other politicians. That is quite the escalation.
Blame social media
Also part of the Irish political handbook when something like this happens is to blame social media. It is all Tik-Tok’s fault. They are allowing these morons to upload clips of themselves driving at speed, driving the wrong way, and generally terrorising the law abiding citizens of this Great Republic. On the RTÉ airways yesterday was the usual wailing and gnashing of teeth over social media, how we need to regulate social media, bring in the regulator and just get regulating. There was some wee English fella – he was English I tell - you from the Ministry of Truth, Coimisiún na Meán informing us how they were in touch with and investigating various platforms and what they were going to do about the scumbags posting and boasting about their latest criminal activities. Interestingly enough, the radio waves were not filled with any information as to the background of these young men. I do not believe they were all never once involved with the police. In fact, the Irish Independent are reporting that the “Leader of M9 crash gang was on bail and banned from leaving his county. Kamil Pustkowski (17) was well known to gardaí and was facing charges before the courts.” Of course he was.
Look, TikTok should have obviously take down this material. You can ban TikTok completely for all I care. But neither this, nor the stupid new law of wrong way driving, nor the hot pursuit training are the real solutions here. What the government must do is fund the gardaí, get more of them on the streets to stop the car thieving and the burglaries and the general ‘low level’ crime committed and when they do apprehend these scumbags, they are prosecuted and jailed.
Getting criminals off the streets reduces their opportunities to commit more crime. This includes but is not limited to, weaponizing high speed cars like BMWs and smashing them into women and children causing them catastrophic and lifelong physical and mental injuries.
How can that be so difficult for the Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan TD to understand? Do you really need three law degrees (one of the Minister’s was actually in criminology) to grasp that simple concept? Young men in prison are far away from the law-abiding citizens.
Every time you go easy on criminals you are not only permitting them to carry out more crimes, but you are signalling to them that the criminal justice system is not serious, and that they can do whatever they want. It is innocent people that suffer for the misguided compassion of others.
Enough is enough. Make crime illegal.
Buy me a coffee
According to the DT the five were members of the "Lucky Dip" gang of joyriders whose social caché is built around terrorising people by driving the wrong way on busy roads and filming themselves.
"In Ireland, children who steal cars are usually dealt with under the Gardaí Youth Diversion Programme for the first few offences. They are likely to receive a caution, rather than a conviction."
"Police must consider 10 criteria before pursuing a stolen car, with many officers fearing they will face sanctions or even criminal charges if they engage in a pursuit – something police suspect the thieves are aware of. They had been told not to follow the stolen car before the crash on Sunday, the Garda Representative Association said."
These typically 16 year olds are legally treated as children, which they are, but their behaviour is akin to terrorism and Ireland has policy restrictions on the police that are ineffective in dealing with them. More deaths are possible unless the Irish State becomes less sentimental.
Car driving is an adult activity. 'Children' behaving as adults should be treated as adults for criminal law purposes.
I read yesterday's post as well as today's.
The 'community' the young men come from is similar one not far from where I live - Police chases several times a week, theft, random dangerous driving with zero safety margin, unique older vehicles at end of life, visits by the Police helicopter once a month.
The issue....
Not all Police are trained to deal with high speed chases, so if a regular Police Person (he / she / zey / it) has 'a go', it's not going to be pretty. The crims know this, so stick mainly to smaller roads and also exploit inter-force boundary 'demarcation'. Over the county boarder, 'can't get me'.
However, once the chase is on, for the crims no risk is off the table.
Such as driving against on-coming traffic.
On dual lane uni-flow roads there are techniques which can run ahead of the chase and bring it to a conclusion before injury or death occurs. On smaller roads that is much harder to do.
No extra law required - but judges really do need to ensure young adults who offend do not just get a pat on the head and an early release.
It is, as Laura says, already against the law.