‘LITTLE GENERAL’ CHOKED TO DEATH ON A CHIP
Tributes to former notorious teenage tearaway who has died aged just 42
TRIBURES have been paid to a former tearaway child criminal who was nicknamed the ‘Little General’ – after he choked to death eating a chip.
Glen Keegan, 42, died after the incident at his home in Tallaght, south Dublin on Tuesday evening.
He was infamous from a young age and earned his nickname after he was described as a one-man crimewave in Dublin in the 80s and 90s.
Keegan got the nickname after his crimewave was so prolific, he was described as a young version of infamous gangster Martin ‘The General’ Cahill who was involved in major robberies and other serious crimes in the same era – and was the top target of gardai in the city.
Cahill, 45, was gunned down by the IRA in August 1994, less than a fortnight before they called off their terror campaign.
Although Keegan was not involved in serious criminality, he was prolific at stealing cars and joyriding – and the Little General nickname stuck.
He was infamous in the 1990s in Dublin and regularly appeared in the media as a juvenile – before a law came in protecting the identity of child offenders.
He was first arrested at the age of 13 for stealing a car and was so small that he had to use a cushion to reach the steering wheel.
He amassed more than 30 convictions and regularly used to drive around Tallaght in stolen cars – mounting displays for other young kids and taunting gardai who were trying to catch him.
Keegan was regularly arrested and sent to St Patrick’s Institution for young offenders in central Dublin – but escaped more than a dozen times.
In 1998, he got a 19 month sentence for car theft.
And in July 2007, as an adult, he was locked up for seven years for a bank robbery two years earlier.
Keegan pointed a replica firearm at an unarmed garda who was chasing him from the scene of the robbery in Tallaght.
Once he came out of prison for that offence, he kept a low profile – except for two incidents.
In 2018, he avoided a conviction after he admitted punching a bus driver as he got off a vehicle in Tallaght. He said he was only joking,
And just last year, he avoided a prison sentence after he admitted taking part in an attack on the occupants of a car in Tallaght in 2017.
He and two other men pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two counts of assault causing harm at Killinarden Heights.
The court heard he had been “persuaded” to take part in this attack at a late stage and was not involved in the underlying dispute.
The court also heard he had 28 previous convictions but had not come to garda attention in recent years.
Keegan died at a property in Tallaght on Tuesday evening. Gardai attended, the scene but foul play is not suspected.
Instead, it is believed he choked to death on a chip.
A Garda spokeswoman said: “Gardai attended the scene of a sudden death of a man, aged in his early 40s at a residential property in Cushlawn Park, Tallaght on the afternoon of Tuesday 12th March, 2024.
“The body was removed from the scene and a post mortem will take place in due course.
“The results of the post mortem will determine the course of the investigation.”
Family and pals of Keegan paid tribute to him online.
His sister Deborah said: “Heartbroken to say my baby brother Glen Keegan has passed away back in the arms of my mother and father … love ya glen”
Another pal said: “Rip Glen Keegan… still can’t believe it you will be missed keego. You will be missed terrible still can’t get it out of my head.
“Seeing all your family broken hearted today, god give you all the strength you need in this very sad time.”
Another said: “What can I say you’ve been a very big and close part to our family.”