A prominent Limerick businessman has avoided a custodial sentence after admitting his involvement in the abduction of a man who is still living in fear after being threatened that he would be shot by the IRA.
Two other Limerick men, who have 50 previous convictions between them, have also escaped prison sentences after pleading guilty to charges arising from the same incident.
Raphael Mullally (40), Waterville, Ennis Road, paid two men €1,000 to kidnap Liberian national Jude Romanus, who was later assaulted by Mullally in the car park of a Limerick pub.
Mullally ordered the abduction in an effort to secure the return of a watch which had been stolen in a robbery from his sister's house, which he wrongfully understood Mr Romanus had carried out.
Following his abduction on January 15th last, Mr Romanus, who only moved to Ireland recently, was told that he and his wife would be shot by the IRA if the gold watch and a chain were not returned.
Despite protesting his innocence, he was assaulted by Mullally and later that night he received a phone call from a man who threatened to come to his home and kill his wife.
During the trial, Garda evidence was given that Mr Romanus had played no part in the robbery, a fact later accepted by Mullally and his two co- accused. Jonathan Goodison (24), Thomondgate, and Thomas McMahon (24), Flanker Court, Galvone Road, also pleaded guilty to the false imprisonment of Mr Romanus at Upper Carey's Road on January 15th last.
Both men also admitted threatening to kill Mr Romanus or cause him harm on the same date and pleaded guilty to a further charge of threatening Mr Romanus's wife.
Limerick Circuit Court heard that Mullally had offered Mr Romanus €30,000 as compensation for his ordeal and that a further €20,000 was offered by Goodison and McMahon.
Before passing sentence yesterday, Judge Carroll Moran said he hoped the offers were made because the men were remorseful and that it was not a case of trying to get out of going to prison. He did concede that the compensation offers might be construed by some people as a way of buying one's way out of a jail sentence.