A garda who had been following a car which crashed, killing two young people, told an inquest yesterday he had stopped the pursuit just before the collision and denied that he had been waiting "ready to pounce" on the vehicle.
Garda Dominic Walsh had claimed in his deposition that he was some distance from the crash scene in Long Walk, Dundalk Co Louth, but conceded during cross-examination that he was much nearer than he had thought.
Mairéad Boyle and Shane Hoey, both 20 from Crossmaglen in south Armagh, died on May 2nd last year when the BMW they were travelling in hit a barrier on a bend shortly before 3am.
A forensic collision investigator told the jury in Dundalk on Monday that the anti-lock braking system was not working and he estimated Mr Hoey had been driving at at least 90km/h (55mph) in a 50km/h (30mph) zone.
Garda Walsh - who submitted his resignation the day before he emigrated to Australia - said yesterday that he had pursued the car because he wanted to speak to the driver about his driving.
He told the jury he decided not to continue the pursuit as it was "of no benefit" and "the next thing I saw was the car explode in front of me".
Sgt Eugene Collins, who was in charge of the investigation into the collision, said media reports that gardaí had denied pursuing the vehicle were inaccurate. He said he had informed the Garda Press Office that gardaí had pursued the car and had witnessed the collision.
Sgt Collins said both families had raised a number of issues with him in relation to rumours about the collision, but he said he had refuted the allegations and told them there was no evidence to back them up.
Public service vehicle inspector Seán Little told the jury that the front two tyres were in good condition but the back two were excessively worn and in his opinion the vehicle was "dangerous, defective and unfit for use".
In returning a verdict of accidental death, the jury said it felt that had the ABS been working properly, there could have been a different outcome. It added that an inaccurate press release had caused undue grief to both families.
Solicitor Paul Tiernan, who acted on behalf of both families, said that they pursued the matter to find out the truth as there had been various rumours circulating about the collision, including comments made on websites.
He added that the Garda should ensure that details about such matters are gathered more accurately before they are passed on to the media.