RAID GANG KILLED IN FIREBALL HORROR
Three die in smash with lorry on wrong side of road after Garda chase
THREE men fleeing gardai on the wrong side of a motorway died in a fireball when their car slammed into a truck.
The remains of burglars Graham Taylor, 31, Carl Freeman, 26, and 29-year-old Dean Maguire were so badly burnt it may take days to formally identify them.
The lorry driver was seriously injured in the Dublin smash and a Garda Ombudsman probe was activated in line with protocol.
Three men who died in a head-on collision with a truck were close pals who operated in a burglary gang, the Irish Mirror can reveal.
The friends, named locally as Graham Taylor, 31, Carl Freeman, 26, and 29-year-old Dean Maguire, fled gardai just minutes before the crash on Wednesday night.
The BMW 3 Series in which they were travelling is suspected to have been involved in a number of burglaries in recent weeks.
Officers noticed the car travelling erratically in the Cheeverstown area of Dublin and a high speed pursuit ensued. It drove onto the N7 on the wrong side of the road – at which stage gardai pulled back.
But just a few minutes later, at around 11.40pm, the BMW smashed head on into a truck near the Rathcoole exit. It burst into flames and the three men were killed.
The driver of the truck, a man in his 40s, was taken to Tallaght University Hospital where he is being treated for serious but non-life threatening injuries.
The bodies of Taylor, Freeman and Maguire were so badly burnt a formal identification might not be made for some days.
Last night, sources said it may take dental records or DNA to do so.
The three men, who had more than 200 convictions between them, were associates of a major burglary gang based in their local area of Tallaght.
Members of the mob have regularly driven on the wrong side of roads as they fled officers with the knowledge they would not be pursued.
A source said: “The men are well known to gardai for carrying out a serious amount of burglaries on a consistent basis.
“The move to drive away from gardai down the wrong side of the road is something they have done before. And on previous occasions, it has worked for the gang.
“The sheer recklessness of it was shown in this incident. They have died as a result.
“But there’s an innocent man who was just doing his job driving a lorry left with serious injuries. And there’s the whole trauma of such an incident that comes with it too.”
As the BMW had been pursued before the crash, the Garda Ombudsman was notified and will conduct an investigation.
As part of both that and the Garda probe, footage of the chase posted on social media will be examined. Drug addict Freeman is well known to gardai and had over 60 convictions including for theft, burglary and assault, among others. The crazed criminal once attacked an elderly couple in Wicklow and was later convicted of aggravated burglary.
On that occasion in 2015, he grabbed the 65-year-old woman, who was suffering from cancer, from her bed by the neck and demanded cash. He also attacked her husband with a hurley.
Last night Freeman’s girlfriend posted a tribute on social media.
She said: “I can’t believe I’m even writing this with the heaviest heart please just someone slap me this is all a nightmare there is no such thing as god.
“Look at u happy u were too good for this stupid s **** y world I’ll see you on the other side.
“You were so loved by everyone you have me lost I honestly can’t believe this my Carl I love you to peace please please please watch over me my love I’ll never forget you I promise I love you so so much.
“My best friend and partner I can’t get my head around this.”
Taylor, the eldest of the three, had more than 120 convictions which included burglary, criminal damage, assault of a Garda and a long string of motoring offences.
He had already been banned for driving for 40 years when he led gardai on a chase in 2016.
On that occasion, he sped at more
The men are well known to gardai for burglaries
SOURCE
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They’d do their time, come out and go back at it SOURCE
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than 120kph in a 50kph zone and also drove on the wrong side of the road, forcing cars to hard brake and attempt to dodge him.
Maguire, whose rap sheet ran to more than 25 convictions, was also a convicted burglar.
Another source said: “Those lads did not have an ounce of respect for law enforcement or the law itself.
“They were all relatively young but each built up a lot of convictions. And despite being caught repeatedly, they would do their time and just come out and go back at it.” The hoods worked with the Tallaght-based gang whose members have close ties to slain mobster Fat Andy Connors. The outfit has up to 80 associates operating with it.
They burgle homes throughout the country, staying in areas for short stints and ransacking properties.
The gang are so professional at their work they are often in and out in less than five minutes.
They also use stolen cars – often from the UK – and regularly change the registration plates before dumping each vehicle after a number of weeks. Last night, pals of the dead men paid tribute to them on social media.
One said: “RIP lads proper legends.” Another wrote he would never forget Taylor and Freeman, who he described as two “lunatics”, and that it would be a different world without them.
A third posted: “Rest in paradise boys.”
Mayor of South Dublin County Council Peter Kavanagh said the incident was news “no one wants to wake up to”.
He added: “It’s obviously a terrible tragedy, it’s terrible for the families of those involved and my thoughts are with them at this moment.”
Postmortems were to take place on the three men last night.
A Garda spokesman said: “Gardai are appealing for anyone with information to contact them.
“In particular, any witnesses who may have seen a dark blue BMW 3 Series vehicle, registration 06-D-47768, in the areas of Belgard, Citywest or the N7 between 11.15pm and 12am are asked to come forward. Officers can be contacted at Clondalkin Garda station on 01 666 7600 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.”
GSOC also asked for anyone who can assist their investigations to get in touch.
They said: “The Commission asks any witnesses to the incidents or who have information or dash-cam footage to contact GSOC at 1890 600 800 or info@gsoc.ie.”