 At the sentencing hearing, Sergeant John Horkan told State prosecutor Patrick Reynolds that Ditchburn, a tiler, and his passenger were friends at the time, living together in the townland of Balinacostello, Aughamore, Ballyhaunis. Mr. Reynolds told the court that one witness, Declan Elwood, first saw Ditchburn filling up on petrol before overtaking him later 'at considerable speed'. A short time after that, Mr Elwood came across Ditchburn's car in the middle of the road, with Mr Kileeen laying in the road. Another witness, Ciara O'Grady, told Gardaí she also saw the teenager's body laying in the middle of the road as the car was smoking. The court heard that Ditchburn made a statement to Gardaí at the scene of the accident. He was very upset, stating: 'I killed my best friend." Sergeant Gabriel McLoughlin gave evidence that his investigations showed that the car entered the bend at a speed 'considerably above the maximum speed involve){kind=link}
Martin Ditchburn was driving his best friend Jason Killeen in his brand new car in Ireland when he took a bend at considerable speed and crashed, killing the teenager
One distraught driver told police officers at the scene of a crash “I’ve killed my best friend – I wish it was me”.
Martin Ditchburn, 23, was driving with his friend Jason Killeen, 19, in the passenger seat of the car he had bought the day before, when they had the fatal crash.
Ditchburn lost control of his newly purchased silver Honda Accord as they raced round a left hand bend on their way to help a friend jumpstart their car, The Irish Mirror reported.
They had been driving near Ballyhaunis, in Co Mayo, Ireland on September 24, 2020.