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FORMER INLA MAN Dessie O’Hare, who was known as ‘The Border Fox’, has been jailed by the Special Criminal Court for seven years for his involvement in a gang, which evicted a man and his family from their home.
Presiding judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt said today that the violent side of O’Hare’s personality is a source of continuing concern and his threat to society had not completely abated.
The three-judge court previously heard that O’Hare told gardaí that he was employed by businessman Jim Mansfield Junior at the time.
The employee pleaded with O’Hare to be given a few days for him and his family to leave their property voluntarily but the defendant refused, saying: “Get out right now”.
O’Hare (62), of Slate Rock Road, Newtownhamilton, County Armagh, admitted last January to assaulting John Roche, causing him harm, at The Towers, Garter Lane, Saggart, County Dublin on 9 June 2015.
He also pleaded guilty to falsely imprisoning Martin Byrne at Rathcoole and Saggart on the same date.
The non-jury court was asked to take two counts of falsely imprisoning Mr Byrne’s wife and son into consideration.
O’Hare was jailed today for three years for assaulting Roche and 10 years with three suspended for the rest of his life for falsely imprisoning Byrne. The sentences are to run concurrently.
Byrne was employed by the late Jim Mansfield Senior, the father of Mr Mansfield Junior, for almost 20 years and provided security for him and his extended family.
Byrne and his family had been living in a town-house at The Towers, which was owned by his employer Mansfield Junior and became the subject of a dispute.
Business park
Byrne went with Mansfield Junior to a meeting on June 9 at a business park, where O’Hare and former Republican paramilitary Declan “Whacker” Duffy were present.
When Mansfield Jnr left the room, five other men came in and Byrne was prevented from leaving. He was told in “no uncertain terms” that he and his family had to vacate The Towers that day and was driven to the complex by the men.
Following this, John Roche was assaulted by O’Hare and the other men.
In 1988, O’Hare was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment for falsely imprisoning and assaulting Dublin dentist Dr John O’Grady, causing him grievous bodily harm, but was released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement in 2006.
The former terrorist also has convictions for firearm offences as well as assaulting a garda.
O’Hare gave little reaction before he was led away by prison officers.
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Good Riddance.
And Mansfield has clean hands.
@Martin Meyler: crazy you can hire someone to carry out this act and not be implicated.
@David W: not crazy. Ireland.
Well, he’s dead. He died in 2014.
@bopter: Junior is dead?
Should have been made finish the rest of his previous sentence.
@Seán Dillon:
According to the most recent edition of The Sunday Times, his parole from the sentence for the horror that he inflicted on the dentist Dr John O’Grady (who passed away in 2016) might be revoked.
Why was Mansfield not charged? Something rotten in the state of Eire!
@Thomas Devlin: Charged with what? Surely there needs to be reasonable evidence of wrongdoing before someone is charged. If you are implying that there is some form of political interference, then you really don’t have a clue.
@Thomas Devlin: Read the article. Plenty of avenues to gather evidence
@CrabaRev: charged with hiring someone to commit a crime would be for starters
@@at: Based on what evidence? If there is evidence of wrongdoing, the Gardaí will investigate and charge if appropriate. The fact that they haven’t likely means they don’t have sufficient evidence. We live in a country with due process.
@CrabaRev: based on the evidence of the victim who stated in court that Mansfield told him along to the meeting and then Mansfield left through a side door and left the victim to the mercy of o hare and his cronies.
This suspended sentence lark needs to be stopped . I get it for first time offenders as a way to offer them a chance but habitual and dangerous offenders have been given chance after chance and couldn’t care less
@John Smith: Totally agree with you. The only thing I can see here is that it’s been suspended for the rest of his life. Anything he does after release will have him thrown back in automatically for the 3 years. Then another sentence after that for whatever got him chucked in.
Mansfield?
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. There are murders he’s never been held responsible for so let him rot.
Haha. Not so tough now huh?
Too dangerous to be let loose
Just wondering the difference in this and what happened when the UVF were allowed wear masks and evict families from their homes..
@David Garland: news to most people, maybe you might have verifiable details?
@John Mulligan: no it’s not
Should have been released from his 40 years sentence on condition that he not even get a parking ticket for the rest of his life or he’d be going back to jail to serve the rest of his sentence. But he wasn’t and another family had to be terrorized by this thug for hire fo him to go back where he belongs.
Hopefully he dies in there
@Gavin Carney: should have died back in 1987 except he was sitt9in the wrong set in the car!
20 years to little.
I always thought that the !I.N.L.A. should be the initials for—- Irish National Little-finger Amputators”
We need a penitentiary in this country,
That will house the lot of them all the rotten apples in the on barrel,
What ever happened to the Thornton hall plan,
Out of sight and of mind.
have your say