Businessman Jim Mansfield Jnr to be sentenced

The 54-year-old was convicted of perverting the course of justice by ordering the destruction of CCTV footage.

Businessman Jim Mansfield Jnr leaving Dublin’s Central Criminal Court following a previous hearing (Niall Carson/PA) (PA Archive)

Businessman Jim Mansfield Jnr will be sentenced today after he was convicted of perverting the course of justice by ordering the destruction of CCTV footage.

Mansfield was acquitted following his trial last month of conspiring with others to have one of his employees kidnapped by a criminal gang.

The 54-year-old, from Tassagart House in Saggart, Dublin had denied both charges.

He denied conspiring with one or more people between January 1 and June 2015 to falsely imprison Martin Byrne, who had previously provided security for the Mansfield family business.

Businessman Jim Mansfield Jnr leaving Dublin’s Central Criminal Court (Niall Carson/PA) (PA Archive)

He also denied directing Mr Byrne’s brother, Patrick Byrne, to destroy CCTV footage at Finnstown House Hotel.

The three-judge court found last month that Mansfield lied to gardai when he denied arranging a meeting between Mr Byrne and Dessie O’Hare and Declan Duffy, which led to Mr Byrne’s kidnapping.

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

Mansfield, a father-of-two, was remanded in custody following his conviction last month.

Defence barrister Bernard Condon said on Monday that the offence of which Mansfield has been convicted does not contain the “aggravating features” usually accompanying the crime.

Mr Condon told the Special Criminal Court in Dublin that it was not accompanied by a threat, inducement, nor was was the instruction successful.

He said that Mr Byrne’s brother Patrick continued to work for the business for a period of time, and that there was no threat or intimidation.

Mr Condon said the offence was of the lower end of the scale.

He said the case has been hanging over Mansfield for a number of years, that he was a man aged in his mid-50s, and that the matter “weighed upon him”.

The court was told that locals spoke “highly of him”, that Mansfield had a jovial personality, was an enthusiastic person and was “personable” to deal with.

The barrister provided a report contained in the Irish Independent in which Mansfield went to the aid of a well-known golfer and pilot who were involved in a helicopter crash in 2010.

The court heard that Mansfield has dyslexia, that he did not complete state exams and left secondary school to help his father in his business.

A report from a consultant clinical psychologist said that Mansfield has an intellectual ability in the lower range.

The court was also told that Mansfield is well-known, and that his family are involved in the hotel business and are “well regarded by locals”.

Mansfield lives with his mother in Dublin and is her main carer, the court also heard.

The court was also told that Mansfield has no relevant previous convictions.

The hotel business is now run by his 27-year-old son, James.

Justice Alex Owens said the matter should be dealt with today and he will deliver a decision this afternoon.