A judge yesterday declined to make a recommendation to deport a Chinese national. The man has been jailed for five years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for his role in kidnapping two compatriots and demanding money from them.
Bing Wang (32) was described as the leader of the gang involved in the incident on St Patrick's Day last year near Dublin city centre. He was the only one to plead guilty.
Judge Des Hogan, who was told that Bing consented to a deportation order, imposed four terms of five years each and directed that they run concurrently.
Mr Anthony Sammon SC noted the legislation permitted the court to make a recommendation on deportation but Judge Hogan said he was not availing of the provision.
"There was a threat of very real violence and it appears to me that a jail sentence must be imposed ," said Judge Hogan.
Garda Fergal O'Flaherty told prosecuting counsel Mr Padraig Dwyer that a Chinese national alerted him at Store Street Garda station that two friends were being detained against their will in an apartment at Amiens Street.
When gardaí arrived, they observed two Chinese men escorting another compatriot to a car obviously against his will.The two men were arrested and gardaí found five more Chinese men holding another compatriot captive in the apartment. A knife was also recovered.
Garda O'Flaherty said the matter arose from a fraudulent apartment lease deal. The victims had paid a €400 deposit on the apartment but changed their minds and went to it by appointment to try to get their money back.Garda O'Flaherty said Bing Wang was the man who held the knife to the neck of the captive found in the apartment. He made admissions after his arrest.