Verdict expected in kidnap case

The Special Criminal Court is due to give a verdict today in the trial of a Dublin man accused of kidnapping former banker Mr…

The Special Criminal Court is due to give a verdict today in the trial of a Dublin man accused of kidnapping former banker Mr Jim Lacey.

During the seven-day trial the court has heard that the accused man, Mr Joseph Kavanagh, told gardai he was himself kidnapped and held for two weeks before agreeing to drive Mr Lacey to the National Irish Bank branch at College Green in Dublin, where a ransom of £243,000 was loaded into a van.

Mr Lacey agreed to go to the bank after an armed gang forced their way into his home at Blackrock, Co Dublin, and tied up his wife and family.

Mrs Joan Lacey, her four children and their babysitter were later freed in a stables near the Phoenix Park.

READ MORE

Mr Kavanagh (38), of Benbulben Road, Crumlin, Dublin, has denied falsely imprisoning Mr Lacey, former chief executive of National Irish Bank, his wife and their daughter, Ms Suzanne Lacey, at Blackrock, Co Dublin, on November 2nd, 1993.