Mansfield’s son sues CAB and DPP over dropped prosecution
A SON of the late one-time billionaire Jim Mansfield Sr has sued Garda authorities and the DPP, claiming he was the subject of a “malicious prosecution”.
Jim Mansfield Jr (53) was accused of unlawfully possessing 180 rounds of .22 Walther ammunition without a firearms licence following a search of his home in Saggart, Co Dublin, in January 2015.
However, the case never went to trial and the charge, which he denied, was withdrawn three years later.
Now Mr Mansfield is seeking damages over the prosecution, which he alleges was taken without reasonable and probable cause.
In High Court proceedings initiated on Monday, he alleges malicious prosecution, misfeasance in public office and abuse of statutory powers.
The action, against the Garda Commissioner, the Criminal Assets Bureau, the DPP, the Justice Minister and the Attorney General, is expected to be hotly contested.
In a plenary summons, Mr Mansfield claims the defendants “conspired to manufacture a public perception” he was involved in criminality.
He claims this involved the unlawful disclosure of sensitive personal data, in breach of the Data Protection Acts and his constitutional rights.
Mr Mansfield’s solicitor, Kevin Winters, of KRW Law, confirmed the proceedings had been issued and said he had also been engaged with the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission and the Garda Commissioner “on some of the matters arising out of this”.
Barrister Barra McGrory QC, the former DPP for Northern
Ireland, has been instructed in the case on behalf of Mr Mansfield.
A similar charge was brought against Mr Mansfield’s brother PJ (43), who was accused of possessing 1,252 rounds of .22-calibre ammunition without the relevant firearms licence.
But a judge directed a jury to find him not guilty as the prosecution had not proved how many rounds of ammunition he was entitled to possess.
The brothers are sons of Jim Mansfield Sr, who died in 2014. He was the businessman behind the Citywest Hotel, Weston Aerodrome and other businesses and properties.
But his empire collapsed during the recession in the late 2000s and most of his assets were seized by Bank of Scotland (Ireland) and the National Asset Management Agency.
The filing of the civil action by Jim Mansfield Jr comes as he awaits trial at the Special Criminal Court later this year in connection with the false imprisonment of Martin Byrne in 2015.
Last December, he was granted legal aid after the court heard he had a €6m judgment against him. The judgment relates to a failed property venture in Co Meath.
Mr Mansfield denies charges of conspiring with one or more persons to falsely imprison Mr Byrne and of attempting to pervert the course of justice by directing the destruction of CCTV footage.
Two figures associated with the INLA, Dessie O’Hare and Declan ‘Whacker’ Duffy, were jailed after admitting the false imprisonment of Mr Byrne and other charges.