LAST UPDATE | 7 Feb 2022

PROPERTY MAGNATE JIM Mansfield Jnr, who ordered the destruction of CCTV footage showing him with former employee Martin Byrne on the morning Byrne was kidnapped by republican terrorists, has been jailed by the Special Criminal Court for 18 months.

The court noted that Mansfield Jnr “stood and watched” as his employee was taken by the notorious criminals and “placed in great danger”.

Sentencing Mansfield Jnr at the non-jury court today, presiding judge Mr Justice Alexander Owens said that the defendant had decided to suppress the “potential evidence” of his involvement with “notorious kidnapper” Dessie O’Hare, and Declan ‘Whacker’ Duffy and that his actions fell into the category of “foolish and selfish criminality, whose efforts did not succeed”.

The three-judge court found that when the convicted man ordered the CCTV footage to be destroyed, he knew there would be a major criminal investigation including an examination of his role in these events. “He did it to distance himself from any involvement with Declan Duffy and Dessie O’Hare and to hide his association with gangsters,” added Mr Justice Owens.

This was not a case, said the judge, where a sentence of community service or a fine was appropriate as there was a “strong public interest” in ensuring that those who might be minded to frustrate the prosecution of culprits should not take it upon themselves to destroy potential evidence.

Earlier, defence counsel Bernard Condon SC, for Mansfield, submitted to the court during today’s sentence hearing that a psychologist had set out his client’s intellectual ability which placed him in the lower range in terms of scores. “He is operating at a mild intellectual disability range or borderline range,” he added.

The court also heard today that the defendant had “endangered” himself by rescuing golfer Christy O’Connor Junior from a helicopter crash in or around Tasaggart House, which “spoke to his concerns for others”.

Last month, the convicted man was taken into custody after he was found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice. The court found he had directed Patrick Byrne – brother of Martin Byrne – to destroy recorded CCTV footage showing Mansfield Jnr with his former employee Martin Byrne departing from Finnstown Park Hotel, Newcastle Road, Lucan, Co Dublin on 9 June 2015, when Byrne was later kidnapped by former terrorists Dessie O’Hare and Declan ‘Whacker’ Duffy.

Judgement

Delivering judgement at the non-jury court on 17 January, presiding judge Mr Justice Owens said that the evidence established to the requisite standard of proof that Mansfield “was prepared to hinder an investigation into very serious criminal activity” by instructing Patrick Byrne to destroy a CCTV hard drive holding footage of himself and Martin Byrne leaving Finnstown House Hotel on the morning of 9 June 2015.

He added: “This direction was given by James Mansfield to Patrick Byrne with intent to pervert the course of justice. This is an effort to destroy CCTV footage which was of potential value in any garda investigation or prosecution relating to the kidnapping of Martin Byrne. James Mansfield wanted to suppress this footage because it connected him to events of June 9 2015″.

The 54-year-old, of Tasaggart House, Garters Lane, Saggart, Co Dublin was acquitted by the Special Criminal Court of a separate charge of conspiracy to falsely imprison Martin Byrne, who had previously provided security for the family business, on a date unknown between 1 January 2015 and 30 June 2015, both dates inclusive.

The non-jury court found that although there was contact between Mansfield, O’Hare and Duffy “for nefarious purposes”, the evidence was “insufficient” to establish that Mansfield Jnr had “deliberately lured” Martin Byrne there to attend the meeting at Keatings Park as part of a plan to facilitate O’Hare in the kidnap and removal of Martin Byrne. In addition, the court also found that overall evidence was insufficient to establish that Mansfield “was a party to the plot to kidnap Martin Byrne”.

The three-judge court said it could not “completely exclude as a reasonable possibility” either a scenario that Mansfield was misled by O’Hare as to the purpose of the meeting at Keatings Park, or a scenario that he was not privy to a plan by O’Hare and Duffy to kidnap Martin Byrne. “This court has no way of knowing how much, if any, knowledge, control or direction Mansfield had of the forces which he unleashed when he decided to recruit O’Hare to his purposes,” said Mr Justice Owens.

However the court was satisfied from the evidence that Mansfield was aware that members of the INLA and the New IRA had been engaged on his behalf in dealing with threats from traveller gangs and his efforts to “get back in control of assets” held by business associates. Furthermore, the court found that the evidence showed that Mansfield had become involved with “some very dangerous players”.

Before delivering the sentence today, Mr Justice Owens said that the offence of attempting to pervert the course of justice may be committed in a variety of ways and sometimes the offence is successful. However, he said the degree of culpability involved in the offending may vary and it is not necessary that the material be crucial to the case.

In this instance, the judge observed that CCTV footage was recorded showing Mansfield and Martin Byrne departing from Finnstown House on 9 June, which related to the false imprisonment of Byrne. “It shed light on the presence and role of Mr Mansfield in the events of that day and Martin Byrne attending at Keatings Park with him,” he continued.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Owens said that when Mansfield instructed the CCTV footage to be destroyed, he was aware Martin Byrne had been “forcibly taken” from Keatings Park and knew that gardai would want the footage and were likely to take it. In doing this, he said, Mansfield had decided to suppress the “potential evidence” of his involvement with O’Hare and Duffy in relation to these events.

“The gravity would have been greater if the court found him guilty of conspiring with O’Hare and Duffy to kidnap Byrne and if the footage had been destroyed,” he said.

The non-jury court accepted that Mansfield had made a “cack-handed” request to Patrick Byrne to destroy the CCTV footage and interfere with his prosecution “in furtherance of his own interest”. “In spite of his efforts, the footage was not destroyed, it was preserved as Patrick Byrne had kept the CCTV hard-drive and downloaded it [the footage] onto a memory stick,” he said.

Mr Justice Owens said that when Mansfield was arrested and questioned by gardaí, he didn’t deny that he and Martin Byrne had travelled to Keating’s Park, rather he suggested they had travelled there for different purposes.

“His actions fall into the category of foolish and selfish criminality, whose efforts did not succeed,” he said.

The judge said the court did not feel this was a case where a sentence of community service or a fine was appropriate. He said it “strikes” at the heart of public interest and the serious nature of the offence and principle of deterrence should attract a custodial sentence. He stressed that there was a strong public interest in ensuring that those who might be minded to frustrate the prosecution of culprits should not take it upon themselves to destroy potential evidence.

“Mr Mansfield knew that his involvement with O’Hare, who is a notorious kidnapper, was fraught with danger. Mr Mansfield stood and watched the event which placed Martin Byrne in great danger and was aware that this led to a serious incident at The Towers,” said Mr Justice Owens.

When Mansfield instructed Patrick Byrne to destroy the CCTV footage, he said the defendant knew that there would be a major criminal investigation including an examination of his role in these events. “He did it to distance himself from any involvement with O’Hare and Duffy,” he said.

The court set the headline sentence at three years imprisonment.

In mitigation, the judge noted his poor education, his lack of a criminal record and the fact he was middle aged with a generally good character. “He resides and cares for his elderly mother and his absence will be a loss for both of them,” he added.

Mr Justice Owens also pointed out that the defendant had an “unusual intellectual profile”, which meant he was “probably suggestible” and vulnerable to others who might get him into trouble.

A psychological report, he said, pointed to “a deficit” which would make his incarceration more difficult. The court also considered the testimonial where the defendant had “endangered” himself to rescue Christy O’Connor Junior. Other testimonials, he said, spoke of his good qualities as a friend and employer.

Earlier, defence counsel Condon handed into the court a report from the Irish Independent, which, he said, set out an occasion when the well-known golfer Christy O’Connor Junior was involved in a helicopter crash in or around the area of Tasaggart House and Mansfield was involved in his rescue. The lawyer added: “He is a person who went out of his way to assist a man with severe difficulties. It speaks to his concern for others”.

The judge said the appropriate deduction from the headline sentence to take into account Mansfield’s personal circumstances and mitigation was one year.

Mr Justice Owens, sitting with Judge Sinead Ní 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 17 January 2022, when he went into custody. 

Mansfield Jnr had pleaded not guilty to conspiring with one or more persons to falsely imprison Martin Byrne on a date unknown between 1 January 2015 and 30 June 2015.

He had also denied attempting to pervert the course of justice by directing Patrick Byrne to destroy recorded CCTV footage, with the alleged intention of perverting the course of public justice in relation to the false imprisonment of Martin Byrne (53) at Finnstown House Hotel, Newcastle Road, Lucan, Co Dublin between 9 June 2015 and 12 June 2015.

In 2019, O’Hare was jailed for seven years for falsely imprisoning Byrne. Duffy was jailed for six years in 2018 for the same offence.

Sentence hearing

At today’s sentence hearing, Sergeant Eamonn O’Neill from Kildare Garda Station, told prosecution counsel Shane Costelloe SC that Mansfield has no relevant previous convictions other than a road traffic matter from over 10 years ago. He was also not on bail at the time of the offence for anything.

Under cross-examination, Sergeant O’Neill agreed with defence counsel Bernard Condon SC that Mansfield had complied with his bail conditions since his arrest in July 2019. The detective further agreed that the defendant had signed on once a week, had surrendered his passport and complied with not leaving the jurisdiction.

Condon told the court that his client was a “pretty well known person”. “He is from a family known for its involvement in the hotel and the community. He is well regarded by locals,” said the witness.

Sergeant O’Neill agreed with counsel that Mansfield was pleasant to deal with and did not create difficulties.

Referring to his personal circumstances, Condon said that Mansfield had resided with his 78-year-old mother at Tasaggart House and had been her carer.

The court heard Mansfield was also separated from his wife but they were amicable and in contact. He has two adult children, who are very supportive, the court heard.

The sergeant said the defendant controlled Finnstown House Hotel up to his imprisonment and was not involved in any other businesses.

The witness said Mansfield’s family were involved in Finnstown House Hotel.

In mitigation, Condon said that when his client was interviewed in December 2015 he told gardai that he had left Finnstown House Hotel with Martin Byrne on 5 June 2015. He asked the court to place the case on the appropriate spectrum of offending and submitted that it was at the lower end of the scale.

The barrister told the court that the count on which Mansfield was convicted did not contain aggravating features. “There was no threat or success. It wasn’t followed up with and he didn’t succeed [in destroying the footage]. It was not accompanied with any circumstance of threat. This person continued to work with him for a period of time, there was no intimidation,” said the barrister.

Another factor in mitigation, he said, was that there was a four-year gap before his client was prosecuted. “That is relevant because for the last number of years he had these charges outstanding against him and hanging over him,” said Condon.

Referring to the surrendering of his passport and the fact he could not leave the jurisdiction, Condon said these were matters “which weighed upon him and were relevant”.

The court heard Mansfield was now a grandfather and had gone to school in Rathcoole.

The lawyer asked the court to take into account that his client had difficulties with dyslexia and had an “unorthodox education”. “He did not continue to do State examinations and left school early. He assisted his father in business and was enrolled in secondary school but seldom went to school,” he said. The defendant was married when he was 27 years old and his father – Jim Mansfield Senior – passed away in 2014.

In his submissions, Condon said that his client lived with his mother as her carer and she requires support and assistance. There is no one else living in the house, he said, and she does not have a full-time carer.

Finnstown House Hotel, counsel said, which is now run by Mansfield’s son, employs over 100 people.

Counsel handed into the court several documents which included testimonials and a psychological report from Dr Kevin Lambe. “The psychologist sets out his intellectual ability which places him in the lower range in terms of scores. He is operating at a mild intellectual disability range or borderline range,” said Condon.

Condon submitted to the court that his client refers to himself as “an early school drop out” and had difficulties in terms of dyslexia.

People from the area speak very highly of him, he said, and he has a “jolly kind of personality and a child-like innocence”. “He is a very enthusiastic man and personable,” he added.

After hearing from both sides, the court rose for 50 minutes this afternoon for the three judges to consider the sentence they would hand down.