A Mullingar-based chef who raped a young woman after inviting her back to his apartment for a party has been sentenced to seven years in prison, with the final year suspended, after a fourth trial.
Samir Mansour (48 ) had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to raping the woman at his then apartment at Windmill Hill, Prospect, Mullingar on January 8, 2010.
Mansour, with a current address at The Lock, Market Point, Mullingar, was convicted by a jury after six and a quarter hours’ deliberation this week, following a trial earlier this month.
The Court of Criminal Appeal had last year ordered a re-trial in the case after finding that questions from a previous jury prior to his initial conviction on four charges in 2012 had rendered the outcome unsafe.
At the first retrial last year, Mansour was acquitted on a number of counts, but the jury disagreed on this rape charge, which led to the final trial this month.
Mr Justice Barry White said that the fact that the case had come before the court four times would have played on Mansour’s mind as well as the victims. He noted the offence has had a deep and lasting effect on the injured party.
He said that following the previous conviction, subsequently overturned, a sentence of nine and a half years had been imposed but on that occasion there had been a conviction on three other counts as well as rape.
Mr Justice White imposed a seven-year sentence and suspended the final year on conditions.
The court heard that Mansour has no previous convictions and had been working as a chef in a restaurant in Mullingar since coming to this country from Tunisia in 2001. He is a father of one from a previous marriage.
Bernard Condon SC, defending, submitted that his client had a significant work history, and had cooperated with, and been respectful to the gardaí and the courts.
He handed in a number of testimonials on his behalf.
He asked the court to take into account the delay in proceedings coming to an end and that Mansour spent time in custody following his initial conviction.
