'Border Fox' Dessie O'Hare is jailed for seven years

Dessie O'Hare pleaded guilty to the charges of assault and false imprisonment

Former INLA man Dessie O'Hare has been jailed for seven years at Dublin's no-jury Special Criminal Court.

O'Hare, 62, from Slate Rock Road, Newtownhamilton, was once known as "The Border Fox".

He admitted assaulting John Roche, at Garter Lane, Saggart, County Dublin on 9 June, 2015.

O'Hare also pleaded guilty to falsely imprisoning Martin Byrne at Rathcoole and Saggart on the same date.

He led the attack on Mr Roche and directed the removal of the Byrne family from their home.

The County Armagh man told gardaí (Irish police) he was employed by a Dublin businessman to evict an employee and his family from his home.

The court heard that Mr Byrne pleaded with O'Hare to be given a few days to leave his home voluntarily, but O'Hare told him he was to "get out right now".

Gang of seven

O'Hare was one of a gang of seven involved in the attack on Mr Roche, including the convicted murderer and former INLA member Declan Duffy.

The judge said the reputations of Duffy and O'Hare would have been well known to Mr Byrne and part of the plan to intimidate him.

He said O'Hare's previous criminal record was relevant and the damage to the Byrne family was significant, ongoing and permanent, with the family now in witness protection.

The court sentenced him to 10 years in prison with the last three suspended on a bond to be of good behaviour for the rest of his life.

Chisel attack

Previously, O'Hare was sentenced to 40 years for kidnapping the Dublin dentist John O'Grady in 1987 and cutting off parts of his fingers with a chisel when a ransom was not paid.

Gardaí managed to free Mr O'Grady, but O'Hare escaped before eventually being recaptured after being injured in a shoot-out in County Kilkenny.

He was freed in 2006 after the High Court ruled he was a prisoner who qualified for release under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.