A man who has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the deaths of two teenagers he was bringing to their debs ball reached a speed of more than 150km/h before crashing, a court has heard.

Anthony McGinn (61), of Drumloo, Newbliss, Co Monaghan, is to be sentenced next week over the July 31st, 2023 incident in which friends Kiea McCann (17) and Dlava Mohamed (16) were fatally injured.

The crash occurred on the N54 at Legnakelly, a few kilometres outside Clones, shortly after 6.30pm when McGinn lost control of the BMW car and it struck a tree. He was bringing four teenagers, students at Largy College in Clones, to a debs ball at the Westenra Hotel in Monaghan town.

McGinn previously pleaded guilty at Monaghan Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing the deaths of Kiea and Dlava and to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to Dlava’s sister, Avin Mohamed.

Dashcam footage of the incident, taken from a vehicle travelling directly behind McGinn’s car, was played during a sentencing hearing on Wednesday. It showed that the road was wet from rainfall at the time.

Judge John Aylmer was told by Garda Insp Ann Marie Lardner that forensic investigations had determined McGinn’s BMW reached a speed of more than 151km/h shortly before the crash and was doing 121km/h at the point of impact with the tree.

The speed limit on that particular stretch of roadway was 80km/h and McGinn’s average speed between Clones and the scene of the collision was calculated at 138.85km/h, the court heard.

Insp Lardner said the defendant had four young passengers in the vehicle and all were injured in the collision. McGinn had to be airlifted from the scene and was in a coma for about eight weeks, the court heard.

Victim impact statements read to the court underlined the distress, pain and loss experienced by members of Kiea and Dvala’s families.

Insp Lardner read a statement from Mohamed Mohamed, Dlava’s father, who said burying his daughter was “a pain I will carry for the rest of my life”. His family left Syria in 2017 to follow their dreams, but now Dlava was never going to get that chance, he said.

Dlava’s sister Avin, who survived the crash, she said the night in question was supposed to be one of the happiest in her life.

“My sister came with me because I had no one else to go with,” she said, adding that “everything changed” the moment they got into that car.

Avin said McGinn began speeding and she remembered being angry and telling him to stop. She said everything then went black and, when she woke up, she was in hospital with serious injuries including brain trauma.

Kiea’s father, Frankie McCann, who read his own victim impact statement, said his daughter always wanted to help others. He said she was a bright shining star.

He said Kiea passed all her Leaving Certificate exams with distinction despite suffering from dyslexia and had aspired to become a social worker. However, he said her life was taken by a driver who “has never shown any remorse”.

Mr McCann, who was one of the first on the scene of the crash, recalled trying to give CPR to his daughter and her best friend while her brothers and sisters watched.

Defence barrister Breffni Gordon acknowledged that members of the victims’ families believe his client has not expressed any remorse, but he pointed to a probation and welfare report which noted a “significant expression of remorse”.

He said McGinn had not been a position to communicate that remorse to any of the family members. He asked the court, in passing sentence, to consider the extensive injuries the defendant suffered and to consider his age and other mitigating circumstances.

Judge Aylmer adjourned sentencing to May 14th.