Two couples who kidnapped a businessman they wrongly believed was a con man have been jailed by Judge Donagh McDonagh at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Judge McDonagh jailed Jason Ward (34), Clanmolier Court, Portarlington, and Matthew Kearns (20), Palmerstown Woods, Clondalkin, for two years, and Celia Jones (19), Foxdene Gardens and Denise Collins (21), Neilstown Gardens, both Clondalkin, for one year.
They had pleaded guilty to falsely imprisoning the victim on March 9th, 2004, at Foxdene Gardens.
Judge McDonagh said the four of them had made "deliberate a concerted decision to deprive the victim of his freedom and to threaten him", they held him against his will.
They could have called gardaí to deal with the problem they wrongly conceived to exist but instead they decided to act unilaterally in a manner which society could not tolerate. He noted that both men had criminal records but the women did not.
Judge McDonagh rejected applications for leave to appeal from the four on the grounds that he had erred in law by taking into consideration matters which had not been given in evidence, but he granted applications for legal aid to pursue appeals.
Garda Padraic Jennings said the kidnap saga arose out of "genuine but mistaken belief" that the victim was a con man as a result of local newspaper articles about a "con man" operating in the area.
Garda Jennings said there was no evidence whatever that the victim was a con man. He had since closed his company due to fear as a result of his experience and was now unemployed.
Garda Jennings told Kathleen Noctor, prosecuting, that the victim called to the Jones and Ward household at Foxdene Gardens to get a deposit for agreed proposed work. He had not been expected to call at that time and accepted their invitation to have a cup of tea.
Three other people, including Kearns and Collins, arrived within minutes and Collins accused him of taking a deposit from her for work which had not yet been completed. He offered her a refund by cheque but his chequebook was taken from him with the suggestion that the cheque would bounce.
Garda Jennings said the victim had a knife pointed at him by one of the people confronting him with the threat it would be run through his head if he did not refund the money demanded by Collins.
Kearns went to Clondalkin Garda station and brought back a car change-of-ownership form, which the victim was forced to sign before being released.
He was told he would get his car back the next day if he returned with €300 which Collins said had been paid by her. He went directly to gardaí to report the false imprisonment.