Jim Mansfield Junior’s barrister has accused the State’s key witness in his trial of telling lies and manipulating his evidence.
Mr Mansfield, whose father was the late hotelier, Jim Mansfield Senior, is accused of taking part in a conspiracy to falsely imprison a former employee.
Martin Byrne used to work as head of security for the Mansfields.
It is the prosecution’s case that Jim Mansfield Junior lured him to a remote location on June 9th 2015, knowing that he was to be abducted and held against his will, and that he tried to cover his tracks by directing another employee to destroy a hard-drive containing CCTV footage.
Mr Mansfield denies any wrongdoing. In his closing speech, his barrister Bernard Condon, called Mr Byrne’s reliability into question by describing him as a "dishonest person."
He accused him of manipulating his evidence and of claiming not to remember things when he came under pressure during cross-examination.
The three judges of the non-jury court will now take some time to consider a verdict.
