An Algerian man jailed for the sexual assault of a teenage girl as she celebrated the results of her Leaving Certificate exams has been removed from the state.
Nabil Habbar (41), formerly of River Village, Athlone, County Roscommon, had his case relisted before Mullingar Circuit Court recently as he had been served with an exclusion order, was “removed from the state”, and is not permitted to return until December 2029.
Mr Habbar was jailed by Judge Keenan Johnson in November 2023, for three years and six months with the final nine months suspended on the condition that he submit to the supervision of the probation service for a period of 12 months post-release.
However, Cathal O’Braonáin BL, instructed by Matt Shaw on behalf of the DPP, outlined to the court that the man was unable to comply with that order due to the four-year exclusion order issued on April 24th of this year.
“It is slightly unusual, but the probation service have asked for it to be re-entered for a variation of conditions, not because of a breach,” Mr O’Braonáin explained.
Mr Habbar, a former accountant, was jailed in November 2023 for the sexual assault of the girl in Athlone as she walked home from celebrating her Leaving Cert results in August 2021.
The court previously heard how the man approached her initially and told her she was beautiful, but she ran over to her friends and warned him to “back off”.
However, when she thought he was gone and that she was safe enough to separate from her friends, he returned, “forcibly kissed” and sexually assaulted her.
The victim was taken to a sexual assault treatment unit where she was found to have genital injuries consistent with the sexual assault she reported to gardaí.
Judge Cephas Power adjourned the case to the end of the current sessions of Mullingar Circuit Court for a ruling.
