DANIEL O'Riordan from Bellurgan Point was found guilty of seven separate charges relating to the accident which happened during the early hours of Sunday March 25th 2007 and claimed the lives of two people on the DundalkCarlingford road.

Fatally injured were George Campbell of Annaloughan, Jenkinstown and Dave Keenan (17), Bog Road, Mountpleasant.

When the case opened at Dundalk Circuit Court last Tuesday, 21-year-old O'Riordan denied dangerous driving causing death, handling stolen property (an Audi A4), unlawful use of a vehicle, failure to report an accident, failure to produce a driving licence, driving without insurance, and driving without a licence.

However, during the course of the trial O'Riordan admitted he knew the car was stolen. He also admitted lying to gardaí in the first statement he gave at Dundalk garda station, when he said that his friend Stephen Dollard was driving.

A matter of hours later he gave a full statement to gardaí at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, admitting then that he was driving the car when it crashed.

Although O'Riordan did not take the stand, his statement was read out to the jury in which he also admitted to not having a driving licence or insurance.

Closing the case for the prosecution, Kevin Seagrave told the jury that the accused had admitted to these facts, but he said the crucial points the jury had to consider was 'that this vehicle was driven at such speed, and with complete disregard to the circumstances which presented that night and led to the deaths of these two people.'

He described how the owner of the car, Noreen Kingham had given evidence the Audi was stolen from outside her home on March 16th.

She later identified the Audi which was in the accident as her car, although false number plates had been fitted.