One of the five teenagers killed when a BMW travelling the wrong way along the M9 crashed head-on into a family has been identified in reports as a 17-year-old who was on bail and prohibited from leaving Co Limerick.
Kamil Pustkowski was facing multiple charges relating to alleged offences involving stolen vehicles and other matters and was subject to a bail condition requiring him to remain in Limerick.
He was also reportedly known to Gardaí in several parts of Ireland, with a Garda alert having been issued for him.
Pustkowski died alongside Joey Carthy, 15, and Jack Kennedy, 17, from Athy, Co Kildare, and Alex McCarthy, 17, and Jeremy O’Brien, 18, from Carlow, when their BMW collided with an oncoming Hyundai at around 3am on Sunday.
O’Brien has been identified in reports as the driver of the BMW.
The car was travelling southbound on the northbound carriageway of the M9 between junctions 3 and 4 in Co Kildare when the head-on collision occurred.
Three sisters and a seven-year-old boy travelling in the Hyundai were seriously injured. The family, from the Graiguecullen area of Co Carlow, were travelling towards Dublin Airport ahead of a family wedding in England.
Niamh and Alma Kinsella, both in their 30s, remain in a critical condition, while their sister Ella Hendricken, in her 20s, and the seven-year-old boy are in a serious condition.
Further information emerging since the collision has placed renewed attention on the previous encounters some of the BMW’s occupants had with Gardaí and their reported associations with individuals involved in car theft and dangerous driving.
Pustkowski was reportedly considered a significant figure among a group whose criminal activity had been influenced by the so-called Lucky Dip burglary gang.
Gardaí in Kilkenny had also reportedly been seeking his arrest after identifying him as part of a group suspected of stealing a vehicle in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan.
Following that alleged theft, the group was suspected of travelling to a rural location where a wallet containing a bank card was stolen. Three transactions were subsequently made using the card before its owner discovered it was missing and cancelled it.
Pustkowski and Kennedy had particularly attracted Garda attention over suspected involvement in car theft and dangerous driving, according to reports.
Social-media accounts associated with the teenagers have also come under scrutiny.
An account linked to Pustkowski featured footage apparently recorded inside a vehicle being driven away from Gardaí on the wrong side of a motorway. The vehicle was shown narrowly avoiding an oncoming car by moving towards the hard shoulder.
An account associated with Kennedy also carried footage apparently filmed from a vehicle being followed by Garda cars before travelling down a motorway ramp, turning and entering oncoming traffic.
Some accounts associated with the teenagers were subsequently removed from TikTok following the fatal collision.
BPI News has previously reviewed social-media posts associated with some of those who died which feature cars travelling at high speed or content showcasing vehicles.
The existence of such material does not establish who was driving the vehicles shown, nor does it prove that the footage depicts the teenagers committing offences. There is also no evidence from the material alone that the videos show the events immediately preceding the fatal M9 collision.
The emerging history surrounding Kennedy includes several previous encounters with Gardaí.
Last month, he was among four teenagers arrested following an incident in Carlow involving a stolen black Ford Ranger pick-up truck.
During that incident, a motorcyclist in his 30s was struck by the vehicle and suffered life-changing injuries. Gardaí abandoned the pursuit on safety grounds following the collision.
Kennedy was arrested but subsequently released without charge. Reports indicate the injured motorcyclist continues to receive medical treatment for complications connected to a head injury.
Kennedy had also been arrested in June following another high-speed incident involving a stolen vehicle travelling the wrong way on the M50.
He was among six boys detained after the vehicle was abandoned and Garda officers found members of the group hiding in woodland. Kennedy was again released without charge.
Reports also state that McCarthy and O’Brien were known to Gardaí in Carlow and Athy, while Carthy and McCarthy had previously come to Garda attention over alleged involvement in the theft of imported vehicles.
None of those previous allegations establishes responsibility for the circumstances of Sunday’s collision, which remains the subject of an investigation.
The BMW involved in the fatal crash had reportedly been obtained from an innocent owner only days before the collision. Gardaí are investigating its movements and the circumstances surrounding the vehicle before it entered the M9.
Gardaí had been alerted to a vehicle travelling southbound on the northbound carriageway before the collision. The BMW had earlier failed to stop for officers, although Gardaí have said there was no pursuit under way when the fatal crash occurred.
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has subsequently drawn attention to a broader pattern of dangerous wrong-way driving.
He said some incidents involving vehicles being driven against motorway traffic had been carried out for social-media attention, describing such behaviour as “irresponsible and dangerous”.
The M9 tragedy followed another wrong-way collision on the M50 only a week earlier in which nine people were injured.
The incidents have prompted discussion at government level about whether Ireland’s existing road traffic laws should be strengthened specifically to address deliberate wrong-way motorway driving.
Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said the Government would consider introducing a separate offence for people who deliberately choose to drive against motorway traffic.
He described such conduct as using a vehicle “as a weapon” and a potentially lethal form of behaviour capable of causing deaths and serious injuries.
The Garda Representative Association has meanwhile argued that dangerous driving of this kind requires a response extending beyond policing.
GRA executive committee member Mark Ferris called for social-media companies to act when they become aware of material showing criminal behaviour that poses a threat to life, including preserving relevant material as evidence and restricting content that could encourage copycat behaviour.
The collision itself remains under investigation, including the BMW’s movements before it entered the motorway, the actions of its occupants and the circumstances in which it came to be travelling against the direction of traffic.
A significant Garda security operation is also reportedly being prepared around the funerals of the five teenagers.