Limerick murder defendant pleads guilty to terror-related offence in Belfast court

A man who previously admitted murdering a woman in Limerick has now pleaded guilty to a separate terrorist-related offence in Belfast Crown Court. Habib Shah Shamel, 29, entered the plea on Tuesday after the court re-arraigned him on the remaining count on the bill of indictment. The charge related to possession of a document or record said to contain information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

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The court heard that the allegation concerned files found on a USB device, identified in the charge as exhibit UD13. When the charge was put to Shamel through a Farsi interpreter, he replied: "Guilty." Senior prosecutor David McDowell KC told Mr Justice Fowler that the plea disposed of the indictment. Defence counsel Niall Hunt KC said he did not at this stage expect to rely on any reports other than a pre-sentence report prepared by the Probation Board.

The judge listed a tariff hearing for the murder charge for 6 November 2026, and said sentence on the terror-related count would also be handed down then. Shamel had already pleaded guilty to the murder charge on 2 May 2025. In May last year, a senior judge told him that he would receive a life sentence for the killing of Geila Ibram, with the number of years to be served before release considered at a later hearing.

The case remains significant because it combines a murder conviction with a separate terrorism-related offence, both now before the same court for sentencing. That means the proceedings are not only about the killing itself, but also about the nature of the material allegedly held by the defendant. The court's next hearing will determine the minimum term Shamel must serve before any consideration of release.

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Ms Ibram, who was 27 and originally from Romania, was stabbed at her apartment in Limerick city on 4 April 2023. The court previously heard that she had been stabbed five times, including injuries to the face, chest, abdomen and forearm. Prosecutors said Shamel had arranged by text to meet her for sex, paid her €100 on arrival, and that screams were heard shortly afterwards.

What remains unclear from the latest hearing is the full basis on which the USB files were said to be useful for terrorism, and whether any further reports will be placed before the court. The key next date is 6 November 2026, when the tariff hearing for the murder charge is due and sentence on the terror-related offence is also expected. Until then, the case will remain focused on pre-sentence material and the court's assessment of the appropriate minimum term.

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