Businessman Jim Mansfield Junior has been found not guilty of conspiring with a criminal gang to have his former head of security kidnapped.
However, the son of the late hotelier, Jim Mansfield Senior, has been taken into custody after being convicted of trying to pervert the course of justice.
After Jim Mansfield Senior died in 2014, the court heard his children tried to take back some of the family’s assets that went into receivership.
The family’s former head of security, Martin Byrne, claimed he was asked to help resolve a land dispute between Jim Mansfield Junior and another man.
It was the prosecution’s case that through his dealings with the INLA, Jim Mansfield Jnr lured Mr Byrne to a meeting that led to him being kidnapped.
Mr Byrne was assaulted and held against his will in his own home until a local Garda happened to come upon the scene.
Mr Mansfield Jnr was accused of conspiring with the gang to have him falsely imprisoned, but the judges felt there was “insufficient evidence” to convict.
However, he was found guilty of perverting the course of justice by directing another employee to destroy CCTV evidence.
He was taken into custody for the first time today, and his sentence hearing will take place next month.
🚨BREAKING NEWS
▪️Jim Mansfield Jnr has been found NOT GUILTY of conspiring with a criminal gang to have one of his former employees kidnapped.
▪️The son of the late hotelier, Jim Mansfield Snr, was found GUILTY of directing another employee to destroy CCTV evidence.— Frank Greaney (@FrankGreaney) January 17, 2022
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