A man was handed a life sentence after he pleaded guilty to murdering Geila Ibram in Limerick over two years ago.
Habib Shah Shamel appeared in the dock of Belfast Crown Court to be formally arraigned.
When the charge of murdering Geila Ibram was put to him, Shamel (28), an Afghan national formerly of Cecil Street in Limerick, replied through an interpreter: “I am guilty”.
Ms Ibram, who was 27 and originally from Romania, was stabbed at her apartment in Limerick city on April 4th, 2023 five times – twice to the face, once to the chest, once to the abdomen and once to the forearm which appeared to have been a defensive injury.
Senior prosecutor David McDowell KC told the court that Shamel had arranged by text to meet Ms Ibram for sex.
“He arrived at the flat and paid her €100. She gave the money to a colleague,” said Mr McDowell.
“Several seconds later, this colleague heard screams and it was apparent he had stabbed Ms Ibram.
“The fatal injury was to the chest which went through her lungs and entered her heart. Death was as a result of blood loss due to multiple stab wounds.
“The fact that he stabbed her within seconds of meeting Ms Ibram invites the obvious inference that he came there to kill her.’’
Shamel fled the scene and went to Dublin before heading by bus to Belfast. The PSNI stopped him in a car on the Malone Road in south Belfast just before 3.30pm on April 6th, 2023. During interviews with police, he said he had gone to the escort to “satisfy his sexual needs” because of something he had viewed online.
Following his guilty plea to murdering Ms Ibram, Mr Justice O’Hara told the defendant: “Mr Shamel, since you have pleaded guilty to the murder of Ms Ibram in April 2023 I must now impose on you a sentence of life imprisonment.”
