A FORMER ACCOUNTANT who was jailed for sexually assaulting a teenage girl as she was out celebrating her Leaving Certificate results has been deported.

Nabil Habbar (41), an Algerian national with an address at River Village, Athlone, Co. Westmeath, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the teen in Athlone nearly five years ago.

In November 2023, Judge Keenan Johnson handed down a sentence of three years and six months, with the final nine months suspended for four years, subject to conditions.

The case was relisted at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court this week due to Habbar’s inability to comply with Probation Service supervision for 12 months after his release.

Cathal Ó Braonáin BL explained that on 24 April, the accused was served with an exclusion order, “removed from the State,” and he cannot re-enter until September 2029.

The prosecution sought a variation to the probation order; Judge Cephas Power adjourned ruling on the application until later this month.

The married accused had worked as an accountant in Algeria, but after coming to Ireland several years ago, he worked in the hospitality industry.

The sentencing hearing was told that on a date in August 2021, the victim had been celebrating her results and was walking home when the accused approached her.

The accused, who had no prior criminal convictions, “complimented her, telling her she was beautiful,” and kept walking with her, steering her in a particular direction.

The girl ran over to a friend, and Habbar was warned to “back off”. Later, the victim felt confident that Habbar was gone and told her companions they could leave her, and she stopped to rest.

However, the accused returned and sat beside her and “forcibly kissed her” while holding her face and neck, while the victim pleaded with him to stop.

The court heard his hand touched her left thigh, and he moved her underwear aside and forced his finger into her vagina even though the injured party told him “No.”

Habbar also put her hand over the top of his penis through his clothing. She screamed “No,” before another man came to her assistance, and Habbar “backed away”.

The victim was taken to a sexual assault treatment unit, where she was found to have injuries consistent with the assault she described.

Gardaí issued a public appeal for witnesses, arrested the accused, and interviewed him three times. Initially, he tried to convince them that the girl was drunk and nothing had happened.

During the second interview, he claimed she was upset, and liked it or that she was looking for drugs.

In the final interview, Habbar said he was sorry.

Judge Johnson stressed it was clear the injured party never instigated sexual interaction with Habbar.

In her victim impact statement read in court at the sentencing hearing, she spoke out about how it left her distraught, and she found it difficult to carry out tasks. The young woman was left questioning herself, looking over her shoulder and wondering if she was wrong.

However, she went to the gardaí and did not want the same to happen to other girls.

The judge praised her for highlighting the crime.

He also noted from her statement that “her Leaving Certificate night will stay with her forever for all the wrong reasons”, it “sullied her results”, and she hoped the accused “will not commit such a disgusting crime again”.

Habbar brought €1,000 to court for the victim, who refused to accept it; the court ordered that it would go to a domestic violence charity instead.

The judge had described it as a “very serious assault on a young, vulnerable woman on a night out” and told Habbar it was clear his advances were not wanted.

He also noted that the accused perpetrated the most serious part of the crime when she was not longer with her friends.