A man will be spared jail and a criminal conviction for groping two women in a busy Dublin pub if he donates €100 to the Rape Crisis Centre.
Nourden Belarbi (32) with addresses at Grace Park Gardens, Drumcondra, Dublin, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the two women in a popular pub in the city’s north-side on October 14th, 2018.
Victim impact statements were furnished to Dublin District Court on Monday.
But warehouse operative Belarbi, who is from Algeria and suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after his time with the Algerian army, was too distressed to read them.
District court president Judge Colin Daly said the accused should be upset by what the two women experienced on the night.
A pre-sentence probation report and a sexual risk assessment were furnished to the court.
Judge Daly noted that they stated the accused was at the lowest possible risk of this type of offending, and that he had learned a “valuable lesson”.
The judge gave him two days to give €100 to the Rape Crisis Centre and indicated that if Belarbi complies, he will be given the benefit of the Probation of Offenders Act.
Tackled
The court had been told at a previous hearing that Belarbi was tackled and had a drink poured over him after one victim approached the second woman to say she too had been sexually assaulted by him.
Since pleading guilty at the end of 2019, he has adhered to bail terms compelling to sign on regularly at a garda station, said defence solicitor Colleen Gildernew.
Earlier the court heard that from the victim impact statements, “it is clear they were severely affected by what happened that night”. Their statements were praised by the judge as hard hitting and eloquent.
The court heard the first woman, who was in her early forties, was approached by Belarbi who “proceeded to grab her by her breast”. “The injured party chased the defendant away,” court Garda Sergeant Paul Keane said.
“Slightly intoxicated” Belarbi went to another section of the pub and approached his next victim, aged 30, the court has heard. He then grabbed her bottom and, “she became upset and threw her drunk over him”.
The first woman then approached her and “and said it happened to her too, she too had been assaulted.”
Apologetic
The court heard a member of security had also witnessed the first incident.
Bar staff were informed and gardai were called to arrest Belarbi who did not address the court. CCTV cameras captured the incident but the footage was not shown during the hearing. The women had drink taken but were not intoxicated, the court heard.
Belarbi was not known to either of them, the court was told. He was apologetic and had no prior convictions, the defence said.
He came to Ireland three years ago and had previously served in the army in Algeria. Following an incident in the army he suffered from PTSD, the court heard.
