Monasterevin crash: third such incident in Co Kildare in three years

The Monasterevin collision which injured six people is at least the third such incident probed by the Garda watchdog GSOC in Co Kildare in almost three years. The other two incidents - near Kildare last year and close to Naas in 2013 - tragically resulted in separate fatalities.

Sources said the worrying trend shows that criminals are using Co Kildare's M7 as well as back roads as escape routes to flee from gardai. In the Monasterevin collision on Sunday, gardai were in pursuit from a distance of the car carrying three men in their late teens and early 20s who were hospitalised. A dad and his seven-year-old daughter and two-year-old son were also injured in the other vehicle.

Last October, a fatal two-car collision happened close to the Kildare Village shopping complex along the M7 motorway killing innocent motorist Diana Harton (43) from Kildare town who was returning home from the supermarket. Her Citroen car was struck from behind by a car which is understood to have been under pursuit by the Gardai after it failed to pay at a toll booth.

Five other men in their 20s in the car were also taken to hospital. In January 2013, Keith McMahon (27) from Crettyard, Co Laois died shortly after the vehicle he was driving collided with a lamppost at Newhall between Naas and Newbridge.

Minutes before the crash, the car was pursued by two Garda vehicles along the Dublin Road, Naas and through the town along North Main Street and South Main Street.

GSOC were called in to investigate all three incidents.