THE FIRST garda on the scene of a fatal bus collision in which five Meath schoolgirls were killed described it as having "an air of unreality with children walking around screaming and talking on their mobile phones".
Sgt Alf Martin who arrived at the crash, four miles outside Navan, within nine minutes of the collision, said it was quite obvious that the five young girls trapped under the bus had lost their lives.
The five schoolgirls killed instantly in what prosecuting counsel, Brendan Grehan SC, described at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court as a "tragic road accident" were Claire McCluskey, Deirdre Scanlon, Lisa Callan, Amy McCabe and Sinead Ledwidge.
Another 46 schoolchildren, a motorist in a vehicle involved in the collision and the bus driver, John Hubble, were injured.
Mr Grehan (with Remy Farrell BL and Jonathan Kilfeather BL), who was opening the sentence hearing before Judge Patrick McCartan of Bus Éireann, Meath County Council and Keltank Ltd, said the prosecution arose from a "comprehensive investigation" into the incident which occurred on May 23rd, 2005.
Both Bus Éireann and Meath County Council pleaded guilty at Trim Circuit Criminal Court two years ago to charges arising from the fatal collision and Keltank Ltd pleaded guilty on day four of its trial last week at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one charge in relation to the matter.
Sonya Kelly, company secretary, pleaded guilty on behalf of Keltank of Balbriggan that being aware that ABS sensor leads were disconnected in the fatal bus, it failed to ascertain whether a hazard arose as a consequence thereof before returning it to the driver, Mr Hubble, on May 5th, 2005.
Bus Éireann pleaded that it failed to ensure that the school bus was maintained in a safe condition in that the ABS was not working on the vehicle and it failed to instruct Mr Hubble in relation to ABS.
Meath County Council pleaded guilty that it failed to prepare a health and safety plan for the construction work at the site and that it failed to appoint a project supervisor in relation to the works.
The penalty available to Judge McCartan under the Health and Safety Act is an unlimited fine.
Judge McCartan heard that the ABS was not working on the bus and that it was obvious immediately following the crash, after gardaí looked at the undercarriage of the bus, that the cables connecting the system had been disconnected and were "caked in mud and dirt".
Mr Hubble told gardaí he never knew there was ABS on the bus and was never given any training in relation to the system from Bus Éireann.
He was never charged with any offence arising out of this case.
Rod McLellan, a braking specialist, said that in his view because the ABS was not working on the bus there was nothing to prevent the wheels locking and the driver could not steer.
The lack of ABS had significantly affected the outcome of the crash, he said.
An independent test carried out by Bus Éireann following the investigation concluded that half of the vehicles in the fleet examined did not have functioning ABS. The hearing continues today.