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Jim Mansfield Jnr arranged meetings with the New IRA and INLA, who were to “help” recover parts of his family’s old property portfolio, a key witness told the Special Criminal Court.
Martin Byrne, who is now in the Witness Protection Program, also told the non-jury court that after a separate meeting with former INLA man Dessie O’Hare and former Republican paramilitary Declan “Whacker” Duffy, asked Mansfield if he realized how dangerous these people were. However, the witness stated that the defendant replied that he “did not care” and that “he was going to get back what was his.”
The three-judge court also heard that Mr. Mansfield Jr. was “a couple of feet away” when his long-term employee, Mr. Byrne, was taken prisoner by a gang of seven men, which included O ‘Hare and Duffy.
Byrne testified that he believed Mansfield Jr. had set him up and tried to confront him, but he was grabbed from behind and pushed into a waiting car.
Charges
Amid heightened security measures at the Special Criminal Court today in Dublin, Martin Byrne testified at the trial of Mr. Mansfield (53), of Tasaggart House, Garters Lane, Saggart, Co Dublin, charged with conspiracy to commit imprisonment false and trying to pervert the course of justice five years ago.
The defendant is charged with conspiring with one or more individuals to falsely imprison Martin Byrne on an unknown date between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2015, inclusive.
He is also charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice by ordering Patrick Byrne to destroy the CCTV footage, with the alleged intention of perverting the course of public justice in connection with the false imprisonment of Martin Byrne at Finnstown House Hotel, Newcastle Road. Lucan, Co Dublin between June 9, 2015 and June 12, 2015.
Mansfield has pleaded not guilty to both charges in the indictment.
The prosecution’s case is that Mr. Mansfield “effectively delivered” Martin Byrne into the arms of a group of men who falsely imprisoned him and his family.
Security work
Key witness Martin Byrne, who presented evidence to the court without a jury from the jury box where two security men were present, described the events leading up to June 9, 2015.
Byrne told the prosecutor, Shane Costelloe SC, that he is originally from Cabra West in Dublin. The witness said he took courses as a security professional before “testing personal protection and being a bodyguard.”
As his career progressed, Byrne said he moved into the “close personal protection of high-profile people and celebrities.” The witness said he was the director of internal security for the Citywest Hotel in Saggart in 2004 and that Jim Mansfield Senior hired him, but that he knew the defendant very well.
Byrne testified that a receiver, Martin Ferris, took over the Citywest Hotel around 2011 and Delata Hotel Group came in to manage the Citywest Hotel on behalf of the Bank of Scotland. The witness said this did not end his employment with the Mansfields and he was asked by the Delata Group to remain as head of security during the transition, which he agreed to.
Field
In his evidence, Byrne said that Saggart Lodge Court, a piece of land known as “Paddy Reilly’s Field” that was at the rear of the Citywest Hotel and the Finnstown House Hotel, later went bankrupt.
A third party, who was an old friend of Jim Mansfield Sr., was hired to act on behalf of the family, as Mr. Ferris did not want to deal directly with Mr. Mansfield Sr.
It was always understood that Mr. Mansfield Jr. would repossess the properties, originally on the grounds that the receivership was illegal and that they should not have entered when they did, he said. Then a financial sponsor helped the third party buy “Paddy Reilly’s Field” from the receiver.
Byrne explained how the Mansfields had retained control of three pieces of land around the family home, Tasaggart House, which were called “salvage strips” as they had key access routes to the Citywest Hotel and other properties that could not be sold without them.
The Mansfields believed that by having these “ransom strips on the table” they could negotiate the return of their other properties within the portfolio, he continued. The witness said the defendant described it as “like buying a house and not having the front door.”
Byrne said it was understood that the defendant would pay money to the third party to buy back “Paddy Reilly’s Field,” but that it was never paid, prompting a dispute between Mansfield and the third party.
Meeting with New IRA
Byrne said a series of meetings were arranged so Mansfield Jnr could regain control of the properties from the third party. The witness said he was asked to meet with members of the New IRA “to help the defendant” recover “Paddy Reilly’s Field.”
The witness said that the defendant was responsible for bringing these people who called themselves the New IRA to the meetings. The defendant said that he also attended meetings with people from the INLA and that Mansfield Jr. had asked them to intervene.
In May 2015, Byrne said he went to a meeting at Keatings Park in Rathcoole with the defendant to get Tasaggart House and The Towers to re-sign with Mansfield Jnr. When he arrived at the meeting at Keatings Park, Dessie O’Hare and Declan Duffy were in the reception area, he said.
He said at the time that he didn’t care and that he was going to take back what was his.
After that meeting, Byrne said he asked Mansfield Jr. if he realized how dangerous these people were and what the consequences would be if they were involved. “He said at the time that he didn’t care and that he was going to get what was his back,” the witness added. Byrne said he felt the defendant was going his own way and had meetings behind his back.
In June 2015, the witness said Mansfield Jnr arranged another meeting with O’Hare at Keating’s Park. Mr. Byrne arrived with the defendant and when they entered the reception area of an office complex they were met by O’Hare, who shook hands with Mr. Mansfield Jr. and they both went up the stairs. Mr. Byrne followed them into an upstairs office and then Declan Duffy arrived. Byrne said, “I was surprised because I didn’t see any reason for him to be there.”
‘You set me up’
The witness recalled that O’Hare told Mr. Mansfield: “You’re done here, you can go.”
When Mr. Mansfield left, the witness became concerned, he continued. He said O’Hare told him his services were no longer needed. Byrne explained: “I said at the time that I had dealt with a lot of issues and problems over the years and I was surprised that they treated me the way they treated me in relation to my dealings with the Mansfields.”
Then Duffy screamed and five other men came into the office, he said.
Mr. Byrne said they told him they were going to take him home to the Towers, and that he had to vacate the premises there. He said he was escorted down the stairs with three men leading and four behind. He said he felt he couldn’t leave and when he asked for time to go home on his own, they refused.
Once downstairs, he said he could see Mr. Mansfield Jr. standing out front. He said, “At that point I thought he had set me up and I knew what was going on. I told him, ‘You set me up,’ and the guys came up behind and grabbed me.”
He said Mansfield Jr. was “a couple of feet away” when one of the seven men emptied his pockets, pulling out cash, a bank card, his watch and phone.
He said they put him in the back of a navy blue Honda with a man on either side, another in the passenger seat and the driver. “I couldn’t leave,” he said.
Wife and son
O’Hare got to the car and handed the driver a slip with Mr. Byrne’s address, Mr. Byrne said. When Mr. Byrne asked to be released so he could get his wife and son out of their home, he said the man in the front passenger seat punched him in the left side of the face with a clenched fist and said To shut up.
The group of seven men and Mr. Byrne traveled in a convoy in a Ford Mondeo, Honda and a white Transit van to the Towers where Byrne was struck a second time by the same man, he said.
When they entered, after passing through a security gate, Mr. Byrne’s wife was there with their son. The seven men entered Mr. Byrne’s house.
Come on it’s your turn
When a security man knocked on the door, the gang grabbed him and pulled him inside. O’Hare, Duffy and another man took the security guard to the ground and beat him, the witness said. They then picked him up and took him to another house, before O’Hare told the witness, “Come on, it’s your turn.”
Inside the house he saw the security guard, “in a bad way, going in and out of consciousness as far as the eye could see.”
Mr. Byrne was beaten and suffered a ruptured eardrum and would later need stitches. On a CCTV monitor, he saw an unmarked red Garda car that he knew from the area, parking outside. He said he saw an opportunity to escape and told O’Hare he would get rid of the gardaí. When Mr. Byrne left, he alerted the Gardaí and within minutes a Garda helicopter and Garda cars arrived at the scene.
Ireland
Jim Mansfield Jnr pleads not guilty in Special Cri …
The trial continues Monday before the presidency of Judge Alexander Owens, seated with Judge Sinead Ni Chulachain and Judge James Faughnan.
Judgment
In April 2019, former INLA man Dessie O’Hare, known as “The Border Fox”, was jailed by the Special Criminal Court for three years for assaulting John Roche and ten years with three suspended for the rest of his life for false imprisoning Martin Byrne.
The sentences had to be executed at the same time. The 63-year-old man, from Slate Rock Road, Newtownhamilton, County Armagh, admitted to assaulting Mr. Roche, causing harm, in The Towers, Garter Lane, Saggart, County Dublin on June 9, 2015. O’Hare he also pleaded guilty to falsely incarcerating Martin Byrne at Rathcoole and Saggart on the same date.
Former Republican paramilitary Declan “Whacker” Duffy was sentenced by the Special Criminal Court to six years in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to assaulting John Roche and causing harm to him, in The Towers, Garter Lane, Saggart, County Dublin on 9 June 2015. He also admitted to falsely incarcerating Martin Byrne in Rathcoole / Saggart on the same date.
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