The funeral notice for one of the teenagers killed in the wrong-way M9 crash has been removed after a wave of abusive comments appeared in its online condolences section, the Irish Mirror reports.
Joe Carthy, 15, was the youngest of five teenagers who died when the BMW they were travelling in was driven the wrong way down the M9 motorway at more than 74mph (119km/h) and collided with a Hyundai carrying a family-of-four, including a seven-year-old boy, who were on their way to Dublin airport to fly to the UK for a wedding. The crash happened on Sunday morning at 3am.
The funeral notice for Carthy, published on RIP.ie, was removed after an influx of negative comments in the condolences section, where people expressed anger about the circumstances of the crash.
Abusive comments prompt removal
It is understood the death notice was taken down due to the abusive comments. The other four teenagers who died – Kamil Pustkowski, 17, from Limerick; Jack Kennedy, 17, from Athy; Jeremy O’Brien, 18, from Carlow; and Alex McCarthy, 17, also from Carlow – have not yet had funeral notices published. Tributes have been paid to some members of the group.
Gardai said the car was driven in excess of 74mph on the wrong side of the rural motorway. Videos have emerged captioned ‘last spin boys’ which reportedly show the teens driving a BMW on a main road.
Car purchased days earlier
The five teenagers died in a car that had been bought five days earlier. Gardai confirmed on Tuesday they no longer believed the car had been stolen from Athy. Detectives said it was purchased legitimately by an associate of the teenagers a week earlier for €1,100 (£940).
RIP.ie, which is owned by The Irish Times Group, said it did not comment on individual funeral notices, the Irish Times reported. Undertaker Joe Rigney, of Rigney's Funeral Directors, declined to comment on the removal of the notice.
