Three men who died following a head-on collision with a truck were close friends who operated in a burglary gang.
Graham Taylor, 31, Carl Freeman, 26, and Dean Maguire, 29 fled gardai just minutes before they died in the fatal collision on Wednesday night, the Irish Mirror reports.
It's understood the BMW 3 Series they were travelling in is suspected to have been involved in various burglaries in recent weeks.
Officers spotted the car - with the reg of 06-D-47768 - travelling recklessly in the Cheeverstown area and a high-speed chase followed.
In an effort to escape police the car then drove onto the N7 on the wrong side of the road.
At that stage, gardai pulled from chasing them because of the danger the gang’s route posed.
But just a few minutes later, at around 11.40pm, the car smashed into a truck in a head-on collision on the N7 near the Rathcoole exit in Dublin.
The BMW 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 his serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.
The bodies of Taylor, Freeman and Maguire - who had over 200 convictions between them - were so badly burnt that a formal identification might not be made for some days.
Last night, sources said it may take dental records or DNA to do so in this case.
The three men were associates of a major burglary gang based in Tallaght, Dublin, where they are also from.
As part of the mob’s way of working, they have regularly driven on the wrong side of roads as they fled gardai, in the hope that cops would not pursue them once they did so.
But on this occasion, the brazen move cost them their lives.
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 that they have done before.
“And on previous occasions, it has worked for the gang to get away.
“But the sheer recklessness of it was shown in this incident. They’ve 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 car had been pursued before the horror crash, the Garda Ombudsman was notified and they will conduct their own 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 thefts, burglaries, assault among others.
The crazed criminal once attacked an elderly couple in Wicklow in 2015 and was later convicted of aggravated burglary.
On that occasion, he grabbed a 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 his partner 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 we’re to good for this stupid shitty 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 Karl 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 oldest of the three dead men, had over 120 convictions which included burglary, criminal damage, an assault of a garda along with 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.
That day, he sped at more than 120kph in a 50kph zone during the incident and also drove at the wrong side of the road, forcing cars to hard brake and attempt to dodge the hood.
Maguire, who has a rap sheet of over 25 convictions, is 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 have actively worked with the major Tallaght-based gang - whose main members have close ties to slain mobster Fat Andy Connors - which has up to 80 associates operating with them.
The gang actively burgle homes throughout the country, staying in areas for short stints and ransacking homes.
They are so professional at what they do, they are often in and out of properties in less than five minutes.
They also use stolen cars - often from the UK - and regularly change the reg plates before dumping the vehicle after a number of weeks.
Last night, pals of the dead men also paid tribute to them on social media.
One said: “RIP lads proper legends.”
Another wrote that he’d never forget Taylor and Freeman, who he described as two “lunatics” and that it would be a different world without them.
Another said: “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.”
Post mortems were to take place on the three men yesterday evening.
Last night, the gardai appealed for information.
A 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 (06-D-47768) in the areas of Belgard, Citywest or the N7 between 11.15pm – 12.00am are asked to come forward.
“Gardai can be contacted at Clondalkin Garda station on 01 6667600 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.”
GSOC also asked for anyone who can assist their investigations to contact them.
They said: “The Commission asks any witnesses to the incidents or who have information or dash cam footage that will assist the investigations to contact GSOC at 1890 600 800 or info@gsoc.ie.”
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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiWGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmRhaWx5cmVjb3JkLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvdWstd29ybGQtbmV3cy9tZW4ta2lsbGVkLWNyYXNoLWJ1cmdsYXJ5LWdhbmctMjQ0OTU5MjPSAVxodHRwczovL3d3dy5kYWlseXJlY29yZC5jby51ay9uZXdzL3VrLXdvcmxkLW5ld3MvbWVuLWtpbGxlZC1jcmFzaC1idXJnbGFyeS1nYW5nLTI0NDk1OTIzLmFtcA?oc=5
2021-07-09 09:08:47Z
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