Former Jim Mansfield Jnr Employee Denies He Can’t Keep His “Story Clear”

A former Jim Mansfield Jr. employee, who claims the businessman tricked him into being falsely incarcerated by a gang, has denied a defense suggestion that he cannot keep his “story clear for more than three minutes” and that he put to people in and out of meetings “like it or not.”

State witness Martin Byrne (53), who is now in the Witness Protection Program, was questioned for a second day at the bench trial of Mr. Mansfield Jr.

Byrne told the three-judge court in his direct evidence last week that his former employer, Mr. Mansfield Jr. (53), arranged meetings with the New IRA and the INLA to “help” recover parts of the old your family’s portfolio of properties.

The witness told the court that Mansfield Jr. was “a couple of feet away” when he was taken prisoner by a seven-man gang, which included former INLA member Dessie O’Hare and former Republican paramilitary Declan “Whacker.” Duffy. Mr. Byrne testified that he believed that Mr. Mansfield Jr. had set him up.

Field

Defense attorney Bernard Condon SC, representing Mr. Mansfield Jnr, today told Mr. Byrne that he had said in his direct testimony that a meeting was held in Dundalk between his client and a third party to reclaim the “field from Paddy Reilly “for 2 euros. million, but there was no reference to Dundalk in the 16 statements he had made to the Garda Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab).

Byrne has testified that key assets belonging to the Mansfields, including a piece of land known as “Paddy Reilly’s Field”, went into receivership and a third party, who was an “old friend” of Jim Mansfield Snr, was hired to act on behalf of the family and hold property in their name.

Mr. Condon asked the witness why he had not told the Taxi officers about his meetings in Dundalk. In response, Mr. Byrne said he couldn’t remember.

Mr. Condon told Mr. Byrne that he had never mentioned a meeting in Dundalk to Gardaí and suggested that he was making it up on the fly and that he could not keep his “story clear for more than three minutes”. Mr. Byrne denied this and said there were “multiple meetings” that he had not discussed with Cab or the Gardaí because they had not asked him.

Mr. Mansfield Jr.’s attorney further told Mr. Byrne that he was given “every opportunity in the world” to disclose information about these important meetings, as he was interviewed 14 to 16 times by Cab, four times by Gardaí and had his exam. in chief at trial last Friday. Byrne said the interviews he conducted with CAB pertained to his dealings with Mansfield Jnr between 2010 and 2015.

At one point, Mr. Condon said that Mr. Byrne’s responses to his questions were “quite slippery,” to which Mr. Byrne responded, “It was a pretty slippery time.”

IRA meetings

Byrne said he wanted to speak to someone at the time and Detective Sergeant Tony Hearty, whom he knew from his security work and whom he trusted, had introduced him to the office. Sgt Hearty was also present at the raid on the defendant’s hotel in 2015, he added.

In January 2015, a hotel run by Mansfield Jr. was searched as part of an investigation into a criminal gang. Agents searched the Finnstown House Hotel in Lucan, which was run by Mansfield at the time, and apartments in the Citywest complex.

Mr. Condon told Mr. Byrne that he had testified in his direct testimony that two members of the New IRA were present at two meetings he had attended.

“I think I’m confused about the two meetings, there was only one meeting that two IRA members participated in,” Byrne said, adding that he was confused as to what was discussed at which meeting. Mr. Byrne later said that he was in multiple meetings with the IRA.

The attorney told the witness that he simply put people in and out of events when it was convenient for him, telling him, “People come in and out of meetings and events anyway. This is useless.” Mr. Byrne denied it.

Mansfield Jr. (53), of Tasaggart House, Garters Lane, Saggart, Co Dublin, is charged with conspiring with one or more persons to falsely imprison Martin Byrne on an unknown date between January 1, 2015 and June 30 2015, both dates. 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.

The accused has pleaded not guilty to both crimes.

The trial continues tomorrow before the presidency of Judge Alexander Owens, along with Judge Sinead Ni Chulachain and Judge James Faughnan.