Sean Quinn Jr has lost his appeal against his imprisonment for contempt of court. The five presiding judge court will give reasons for its 4 to 1 majority decision on Wednesday next.

It comes as a major blow for both Sean Jr and his family, who later this week see their father, Sean Sr appear before the courts again when he too could face the possibility of imprisonment.

Quinn Jr was jailed back in July of this year for three months and would not have completed his sentence until October 20 by which time Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne in the High Court was to be satisfied he had, or was prepared to purge his contempt to avoid further imprisonment.

Ms Justice Dunne found Quinn Jr guilty of "outrageous contempt" for failing to take steps to reverse alleged asset-stripping moves intended to put funds and international property beyond the reach of IBRC, formerly Anglo Irish Bank.

At that same court, Sean Quinn Sr and his nephew Peter Darragh Quinn were also convicted of contempt before the High Court. Quinn Sr was not given a jail sentence and Peter Darragh failed to turn up for sentencing and is currently evading arrest residing in his native Fermanagh outside the jurisdiction.

Before a panel of five judges in the Supreme Court earlier this month, Sean Quinn Jr's legal team argued the High Court had failed in setting out any evidential basis for the finding of contempt, and therefore Quinn Jr's imprisonment was therefore wrong.

Lawyers for IBRC told the appeal hearing however there could be no doubt about the decision to jail him in light of new evidence brought to the Supreme Court, including "deliberate and repeated" attempts to interfere with the administration of justice and to defraud the bank.

Senior counsel for IBRC Paul Gallagher said the High Court was entitled to make the finding of contempt based on circumstantial evidence.

At the height of the Quinn family's success, Sean Quinn Sr and his family were considered the among the richest in Ireland, controlling businesses from insurance and hotels to manufacturing, worth billions of euro and employing thousands of people.