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Dublin Live
Dublin Live
National
Nicola Donnelly

Dean Maguire's widow appeals for return of her mum's stolen purse

The widow of one of three prolific criminals killed in a horror fireball road crash has appealed for the return of her mum’s stolen purse.

Tallaght criminals Graham Taylor, 31, Karl Freeman, 26, and Dean Maguire, 29, made international headlines after the car they were travelling in collided head-on with a lorry as it drove the wrong way down the N7 near Rathcoole on the night of July 7 last year.

The trio, who had more than 200 convictions between them, perished in the burning car. They were believed to be the main players in a gang who used the motorway network to carry out burglaries in rural areas.

Read more: 'World's dumbest criminal' arrested in Dublin city centre on way home from court

Dean’s widow Sallyann has now made an appeal on social media for the return of her mum’s purse that was stolen from the post office in Dublin’s City West on Thursday.

She wrote that she is not concerned about the money that was in it but “there are sentimental pieces in the purse that belong to my dead husband Dean Maguire and her dad”. She wrote: “All we want is the purse handed back into any shops or posted back to the house. Her licence was in the purse so the address of the house is on it.

“If anyone around Tallaght finds it or knows anyone that may have taken it please get back to me.”

Dean’s funeral, which took place at St Mary’s Priory in Tallaght on Friday, July 16, 2021 made international headlines, shocked the wider public and prompted the clergy involved to call gardai as the numbers attending the service got out of control.

The funeral was also condemned for glorifying criminality after offerings praising Maguire’s burglary skills – including a screwdriver and a torch –were brought to the altar as gifts. Just two months after the horror crash last year Sallyann took to social media to warn whoever targeted a roadside memorial for the three victims that she hopes karma comes back to them.

The memorial was targeted three times over an eight-week period, with a sign saying “Burn Scum” placed at the site and photographs of the criminals ripped away.

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