AFTER the jury is sworn in on the first day of evidence, the court heard from state prosecutor Kevin Seagrave that one of the cars involved in the two vehicle collision, an Audi A4, was travelling 'at a very considerable speed.'

The jury heard the accident happened at Annaloughan, Jenkinstown, Dundalk around 2.40am on March 25th 2007.

It was alleged the car was being used without the consent of the owner and that it was the speed it was being driven at which caused the collision with another car, a Renault Megane.

The Megane was being driven by George Campbell and the crash happened as he was turning into the gate of his house, the court heard.

A number of witnesses gave evidence of having come across the accident, including a taxi driver who was one of the first people at the scene.

Tony Hughes told the court there was still smoke and steam coming from the vehicles as he drove towards the scene.

He saw a man getting out of the driver's side of the Audi, and he asked him if he was OK. The driver mumbled a reply.

The taxi driver also went to the passenger side of the Audi, and he saw a young man in the front who was moaning.

He also went to the other car, the Renault Megane, and saw one man slumped over in the front. He checked for a pulse but couldn't find any.

He went back to the Audi and saw the young man had got out of the car and was lying on the ground, still moaning.

' Then I heard more moaning from the back of the car, and saw there was another person in the back.'

The court also heard from a number of other people who came across the accident including Marie Mulholland, who said she came upon a lot of debris on the road.

She told of coming across a young man, who it emerged was 17-year-old Dave Keenan.

'I got out and saw a wee fella on the path. I went to the wee fella, he said he couldn't breathe. I knelt down, I held his hand.'

There were emotional scenes in the court as she told of lifting his head onto her knees.

'I held his hand, but he got worse, his breathing got more difficult. I held his hand tightly.'

She also went to see to the others injured in the accident, but quickly returned to the young man on the footpath.

'When I came back, he was on his own.'

She described kneeling down beside him. 'He was lying on me, I took his hand again.'