SCREWDRIVERS AND5 GLOVES IN TRIBUTE TO CRASH BURGLAR
Mourner hails dead criminal’s skills as thief on social media
A TRIBUTE paid to one of the three criminals who died in a horror smash hailed his skills as a burglar.
A picture of a portrait of Dean Maguire with two screwdrivers and a pair of gloves was posted on social media and captioned: “No better man to put them to youse [sic].”
Maguire died in a burning car alongside his associates Graham Taylor and Carl Freeman on Wednesday night.
The trio had fled from gardai and drove down the N7 on the wrong side of the road before smashing into a truck head-on.
And the Irish Mirror can reveal Maguire was wanted by British police having fled from jail on October 17, 2018.
The fugitive went on the run from Hollesley Bay open prison outside Suffolk in England while serving a three-year and nine month sentence for burglary in the UK at the time.
Multiple police forces were alerted and hunted for the thug and at the time, cops warned: “Members of the public are advised not to approach him.”
The hood returned to Ireland and was never recaptured, a UK source confirmed last night.
And just the following year, Maguire – who had more than 25 convictions – was nabbed and charged over alleged burglaries in Co Mayo.
The court heard at the time that the 29-year-old and his three co-accused were allegedly part of “a highly sophisticated, organised crime gang”.
Gardai suspected at the time they had stolen €30,000 from a Mayo property.
On Wednesday, Maguire, Taylor, 31, and 26-year-old Freeman were travelling in a BMW 3 Series car when they were pursued by gardai who had spotted them driving erratically.
Officers stopped the chase when the thugs hit the dual carriageway on the wrong side because of the danger the vehicle’s route posed.
But just minutes later their car smashed into a truck and burst into flames, killing all three.
The BMW in which they were travelling is suspected to have been involved in a number of burglaries in recent weeks.
The driver of the truck, who is in his 40s, is in Tallaght University Hospital recovering from the smash.
The dead men’s bodies were so badly burnt they are to be identified through DNA analysis.
It is believed they were members of a major burglary gang based in Tallaght and its leaders had close ties with murdered gangster Fat Andy Connors.
We can reveal the men had been spotted by investigators on multiple
occasions in recent times in different cars. The huge burglary mob, which has up to 80 associates, has access to a vast amount of vehicles as part of its criminal enterprise.
A source said: “The three men were heavily involved in the gang.
“Each had been spotted in different cars and not always together. But gardai suspect they are all different cars the gang has access to to carry out burglaries.
“They take risks to evade attention or get away from gardai. And the risk these three men took proved costly for them.”
Meanwhile, other tributes continued to be paid on social media and at the scene of the crash.
In one note, a partner of one of the dead men left a card which said: “The love of my life. Words can’t describe what I’m feeling.
“Our baby girl will never forget you.
“I’ll make sure she knows her daddy. No matter what happened you would come home to me. I’ll love you forever.”
The three men had more than 200 convictions among them.
Maguire’s had a history of leading gardai on chases.
In 2014, having just done a spree of robberies in Straffan, Mullingar and Celbridge, he was arrested after abandoning the getaway car.
In 2010 he was caged over another high-speed Garda chase in which he drove on the wrong side of the road and reversed into a patrol car three times.
Freeman had more than 60 convictions including for theft, burglary and assault, among others.
The career criminal once threatened and attacked a pensioner couple in Co Wicklow in 2015. Close pal Taylor was banned from driving for 40 years in 2012.
He had more than 120 convictions which included burglary, criminal damage, assault of a Garda and a long string of motoring offences.
Gardai have not yet confirmed the bodies have been formally identified and they continue to appeal for information.
A spokesman said: “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.”
The love of my life. Words can’t describe what I feel NOTE FROM DECEASED’S PARTNER YESTERDAY