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Revealed: The four-figure price car used by teens in M9 crash horror was bought for days earlier

The car was bought for cash in Carlow on the Tuesday before the crash by an associate of one of the teenagers who died in Sunday's collision

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Michael O'Toole Crime and Defence Editor

12:30, 18 Aug 2026Updated 14:44, 18 Aug 2026

[The five teenagers who died were in a car that had been bought five days earlier.]

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The five teenagers who died were in a car that had been bought five days earlier.

The car driven by the teenage gang in the M9 crash horror had been bought for just over 1,000 in cash days beforehand, it has emerged.

The Irish Mirror has learned that the black BMW in which all five teenagers were killed was bought in the Carlow area on Tuesday, August 11 - five days before the tragedy on the stretch of the motorway in Moone in Co Kildare.

The five teens who died in the crash were all aged between 15 and 18. They have not been officially named yet. But their names emerged in the local communities and online on Monday.

They were: Jeremy O'Brien, 18, from Carlow; Alex McCarthy, 17, from Carlow; Joey Carthy, 15, from Athy, Kildare; Jack Kennedy, 17, also from Athy and Kamil Pustkowski, 17, from Limerick.

Officers initially suspected that the teens had stolen the car after gardai received reports of young suspects trying to break into vehicles and houses in Athy at around 2am on Sunday.

[The scene on the M9 northbound at Junction 3 in Co Kildare]

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The scene on the M9 northbound at Junction 3 in Co Kildare(Image: Niall Carson/PA Wire)

That was just an hour before the BMW sped down the wrong direction of the northbound carriage of the M9 and slammed into a Hyundai vehicle carrying the innocent Kinsella family that was travelling to Dublin Airport for a flight to England.

All five teenagers died in the crash, and the four members of the Kinsella family - a seven-year-old child and three womenmiraculously survived but were left seriously injured.

Now we have established that gardai are satisfied the BMW was not stolen, but had been bought by one of the teens' associates for just 1100.

It was bought legitimately from a man in Carlow.

[Joey Carthy, 15, from Athy, who was killed in a crash on the M9]

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Joey Carthy, 15, from Athy, who was killed in a crash on the M9

Sources say one reason garda suspected it had been stolen is that it was not registered in any of the names of the five teens who were in the car when it crashed.

But it emerged that a close associate of one of the teens had actually bought the car from a foreign national.

The teens were killed when the BMW crashed head on into the innocent Kinsella familys Hyundai car at around 3am on Sunday. The Kinsella family were driving on the correct side of the motorway and were heading from their homes in Carlow to Dublin Airport for a flight when the BMW crashed into them.

They were all lucky to survive the crash but suffered serious injuries.

They were named locally as Ella Hendricken, Niamh and Alma Kinsella. The boy, aged just seven, is being treated at Crumlin Children's Hospital.

[Jeremy O'Brien, 18, of Carlow, was killed in the M9 crash tragedy]

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Jeremy O'Brien, 18, of Carlow, was killed in the M9 crash tragedy

The female driver and front seat passenger remain critically ill in Tallaght University Hospital in south Dublin.

And the woman who was in the back seat beside the boy was in a serious condition at St. Luke's General Hospital in Kilkenny, but was later moved to St Vincent's Hospital in south Dublin.

Gardai are still investigating the crash and have appealed for witnesses to come forward.

[Alex McCarthy, 17.]

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Alex McCarthy, 17.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Athy Garda Station on 01 666 6000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.

And independent policing watchdog Fiosr is carrying out a separate probe following an interaction between it and gardai some time before the crash.

We revealed on Monday that the BMW actually drove the wrong way down the M9 twice in the run up to the tragedy.

We have learned that the horror incident began around 30 minutes before the crash when gardai first became aware the BMW was acting suspiciously.

[Jack Kennedy, 17, from Athy, who lost his life in a crash on the M9]

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Jack Kennedy, 17, from Athy, who lost his life in a crash on the M9

Gardai saw the vehicle and tried to stop it but it quickly drove against traffic on the northbound section of the motorway, which meant the officers immediately disengaged.

Its understood the car then did a U-turn - and went back the M9, but this time in the proper direction.

[Kamil Pustkowski, 17, from Limerick]

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Kamil Pustkowski, 17, from Limerick, who was killed in the M9 crash

It then went off the motorway at junction 2A - a filling station and food area.

Gardai were preparing an operation to deploy a stinger on the motorway to take out the cars tyres when the occupants saw one of the force vehicles - and sped off.

It drove the wrong way down the exit ramp - and sped along the motorway, again against traffic. Gardai did not pursue the car.

But within a few minutes the BMW slammed into the Hyundai car going the right way on the motorway with horrific consequences.

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