THE SENTENCING of Bus Éireann, Meath County Council and Keltank Ltd, arising from the investigation into the 2005 fatal bus crash in which five Meath schoolgirls were killed, has been set for next Thursday.
Keltank Ltd pleaded guilty earlier this week at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one charge in relation to the matter, in which another company, McArdles Test Centre Ltd of Dundalk, was acquitted on Thursday by direction of Judge Patrick McCartan, following an application by defence counsel, Roderick O'Hanlon SC.
Bus Éireann and Meath County Council have pleaded guilty previously at Trim Circuit Criminal Court to breaches of the Health and Safety Act and their cases are due for mention there next Tuesday when it is expected both cases will be transferred to Dublin for sentencing.
Sonya Kelly, company secretary, pleaded guilty on behalf of Keltank of Balbriggan on the fourth day of the trial on the charge that, being aware that ABS sensor leads were disconnected in the bus that crashed, it failed to ascertain whether a hazard arose as a consequence thereof before returning it to the driver, John Hubble, on May 5th, 2005.
Shane Murphy SC, for Bus Éireann, told Judge McCartan that his client was "anxious" to have the case dealt with, and although it pleaded guilty in Trim it had no objection to the case being transferred to Dublin.
Some media coverage of the ending of the trial was criticised by Judge McCartan and prosecuting counsel Brendan Grehan SC, who said he felt there was "very selective reporting" in some media yesterday.
Judge McCartan said that from some reports he observed in various media, it was obvious the reporters involved had not been present for the final proceedings.
Mr Grehan said there had been "a very comprehensive Garda investigation and equally comprehensive Health and Safety Authority investigation", and there was much debate on which of two dates should be selected for the charges in relation to McArdles Test Centre.
"But ultimately I take the responsibility for selecting the date chosen," Mr Grehan said.
He said the view was taken that March 15th, 2005, when the bus passed its road worthiness test, should be the correct date on the indictment and this was strengthened by the fact that Wesley Finlay, a Department of the Environment tester with McArdles, told gardaí he failed to note the ABS warning light on both March 4th and March 15th, 2005.
The prosecution could have equally floundered if the former date had been selected, Mr Grehan said.
Judge McCartan said Mr Finlay's testimony in court was "dramatically different" to the statement he made to gardaí and did "not live up to what was expected of him from the prosecution's point of view".
He said that in his view Mr Finlay's evidence led to "an absence of proof" that McArdles Test Centre was aware the ABS warning light was not functioning