Inside story of the brazen WhatsApp group that told M9 crash teen when it was safe to go on a car robbing spree… and the infuriating reason Gardai know there is little they can do to stop them
A member of the so-called "M9 gang", 17-year-old Kamil Pustkowski, was arrested driving a stolen car just three weeks before the crash that killed him and four other teenagers, but was released and back stealing cars the same night because Ireland's only juvenile detention centre, Oberstown in Lusk, Co Dublin, had no available spaces. The Mail has learned that Pustkowski belonged to a WhatsApp group used by teenage car thieves to track capacity at Oberstown, with members telling each other to "run riot" and go on "crime sprees" once they know the centre is full and they will avoid being detained.
Pustkowski appeared before the Children's Court in Smithfield in July after being caught in a stolen car in Tallaght, and was observed by gardaí in another stolen vehicle carrying out a fuel drive-off on the M7 just hours later. A garda source described a "revolving door" system that discourages young offenders from obeying the law and leaves officers unable to explain to crime victims why bail objections go unheard due to a lack of beds. Judge Paul Kelly warned a year ago that insufficient detention places risked a "terrible accident", while Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan said he was "very concerned" after two 17-year-olds accused of an armed burglary could not be placed at Oberstown. The Department of Children said beds are allocated on a "first come first served" basis, but referred questions about occupancy and release figures to Oberstown, which said the data was "not publicly available".
- Teen killed in M9 crash was freed hours after arrest due to no juvenile detention beds
- WhatsApp group let young car thieves track Oberstown capacity to plan crime sprees
- Officials and judges had repeatedly warned of risks from the detention shortage
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Since the M9 gang has been arrested, gardaí have repeatedly warned that Ireland's youth justice system struggles to keep persistent young offenders off the streets. Oberstown, in Lusk, Co Dublin, is the country's only detention centre for children, and when it has no free places, teenagers arrested for serious offences, including car theft, can be released rather than held. This has led to what one garda source called a "revolving door", where the same young suspects reoffend within hours of being freed.
The M9 crash refers to a fatal collision in which five teenagers died while travelling in a stolen car on the M9 motorway. One of those killed, 17-year-old Kamil Pustkowski, had been arrested for car theft weeks earlier but was released the same night due to a lack of space at Oberstown. Questions have since been raised about how young offenders allegedly used group chats to share information about when the centre was full, and therefore when they were less likely to be detained if caught.
The case has drawn attention from senior figures including a Children's Court judge and the Justice Minister, both of whom have expressed concern about the shortage of detention places for children. Oberstown is run separately from the Department of Children, which oversees youth justice policy, and neither has published detailed figures on capacity or release patterns, which is part of what the reporting is trying to establish.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Those calling for more secure places and firmer use of detention argue that public safety and the welfare of the children themselves demand it: a system that repeatedly releases known repeat offenders back onto the streets because of bed shortages is not protecting anyone, and gardaí, judges and even the Justice Minister have all warned that this revolving door invites tragedy. On this view, expanding Oberstown's capacity and ensuring bail objections can actually be acted upon is a straightforward matter of taking known risks seriously before more lives, including those of the young offenders themselves, are lost.
The case against
Those wary of simply building more detention capacity argue that locking up more children is not a proven or proportionate answer, and that Ireland's low reliance on child detention reflects a deliberate and defensible principle that custody should be a last resort given its well-documented harms to young people's development and reoffending prospects. On this view, the priority should be addressing why children are drawn into organised car theft in the first place, through family support, diversion and mental health services, rather than expanding a punitive system whose capacity limits exist precisely to prevent the over-incarceration of minors.