Dessie O'Hare, a convicted kidnapper and a former member of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) paramilitary group, has been released from prison.
O'Hare, nicknamed "The Border Fox" due to his ability to evade capture on both sides of the Irish border, was jailed in 2019 after admitting to a charge of false imprisonment before the non-jury Special Criminal Court.
He was sentenced to ten years in prison with three years suspended after pleading guilty to the false imprisonment of Martin Byrne on June 9, 2015, in Rathcoole and Saggart.
The incident took place during a violent attempt to remove Byrne and his family from their home.
Byrne was later placed in the Witness Protection Programme in the lead-up to the trial such was the level of intimidation aimed against him and his family.
He also pleaded guilty to the assault of John Roche at the Towers in Saggart on the same date, causing harm to the victim.
The court heard in April 2019 that O'Hare told gardaí that he worked for businessman Jim Mansfield Jr. when he, along with others, carried out the attack on Byrne, who worked for Jim Mansfield Sr.
The court also heard that O'Hare falsely imprisoned Burke's wife and son and was asked to take this into account during sentencing.
O'Hare walked free from Portlaoise Prison on Thursday afternoon, June 28 after completing his prison sentence.
Born in Co Armagh in 1956, O'Hara joined the Provisional IRA when he was 16 and later joined the INLA toward the end of the 1970s.
In 1987, O'Hare infamously kidnapped Dublin dentist Dr. John O'Grady and held him captive for 23 days.
O'Hare severed the top of two of O'Grady's fingers while holding the dentist hostage. He also demanded a ransom of IR£1.5 million in exchange for his return.
Gardaí later secured O'Grady's release, but O'Hare escaped.
He was later brought to justice and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
O'Hare was released from Castlerea Prison in 2006 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
His previous convictions were taken into account during sentencing in the 2019 trial before the Special Criminal Court.
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