Courts / Dublin / Report
Jim Mansfield Jnr jailed for 18 months for perverting course of justice
Summary
Jim Mansfield Jnr, a property magnate, was sentenced by the Special Criminal Court to two years' imprisonment with the final six months suspended for a period of six months, back‑dated to 17 January 2022. The sentence followed a conviction for attempting to pervert the course of justice by directing Patrick Byrne to destroy CCTV footage that showed Mansfield and former employee Martin Byrne leaving Finnstown House Hotel on 9 June 2015, the day Byrne was later kidnapped by republican terrorists Dessie O'Hare and Declan 'Whacker' Duffy. Mansfield, 54, had ordered the footage destroyed to distance himself from the kidnappers and to hide his association with them. He was acquitted of a separate conspiracy charge for falsely imprisoning Byrne. The court noted his lack of prior convictions, his mild intellectual disability, his role as a carer for his 78‑year‑old mother and his generally good character as mitigating factors. Jim Mansfield Jnr pleaded not guilty.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Jim Mansfield Jnr jailed for 18 months for perverting course of justice. Charges or matters: attempting to pervert the course of justice; conspiring with one or more persons to falsely imprison Martin Byrne on a date unknown between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2015. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- June 9 2015 Hearing Or Sentence
- January 17 Hearing Or Sentence
- June 9, 2015 Incident
- January 1, 2015 Hearing Or Sentence
- June 30, 2015 Hearing Or Sentence
- June 9 Other
- January 17 2022 Other
- June 12, 2015 Incident
- July 2019 Incident
- December 2015 Hearing Or Sentence
- June 5, 2015 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2022-02-07 Publication
Why: James Mansfield wanted to suppress this footage because it connected him to events of June 9 2015". CNI source report
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Charges: attempting to pervert the course of justice; conspiring with one or more persons to falsely imprison Martin Byrne on a date unknown between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2015 (Alleged Or Contested)
Plea: Not guilty
Outcome: Photo: Collins) Property magnate Jim Mansfield Jnr, who ordered the destruction of CCTV footage showing him with a former employee on the morning he was kidnapped by republican terrorists Dessie O'Hare and Declan 'Whacker' Duffy, has been jailed by the Special Criminal Court for 18 months. Mr Justice Owens, sitting with Judge Sinead Ni Chulachain and Judge James Faughnan, sentenced Mansfield to two years imprisonment with the final six months suspended for a period of six months, backdated to January 17 2022, when he went into custody.
Places mentioned
- Special Criminal Court
- Tasaggart House
- Finnstown House
- Keatings Park
- Newcastle Road
- Keating's Park
- Eamonn O'Neill from Kildare Garda Station
- Kildare
Topics
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