A Lebanese man who abducted his two children from his late partner Baiba Saulite, who was brutally murdered at her north Dublin home last month, will be sentenced next week.
Hassan Hassan was today remanded in custody at the Circuit Criminal Court to Mountjoy Prison where he is serving four years for his part in an international car ringing scam.
Baiba Saulite
Hassan, who arrived at the court amid tight security, pleaded guilty on November 7 to abducting the youngsters Ali, aged five and Mohammed, aged three, in December 2004 and sending them to live with his mother and other relatives in Syria.
It was nine months before they were back with their mother.
The boys, aged two-and-a-half and 17 months at the time of the kidnap, are effectively orphans now with their father refused access while behind bars and their mother shot dead.
Hassan, 38, with an address in Swords, was due to be sentenced today but Judge Micheal White adjourned the matter after hearing a detailed account of the couple's difficult relationship and disputes over custody in the two years before Ms Saulite's death.
The judge also asked lawyers to find out whether Latvia, Lebanon and Syria are bound by mutual consents on Family Law orders made in Ireland.
Hassan was jailed for four years in March 2006 for handling stolen goods over his part in a luxury car ringing operation. Cars were stolen to order in Ireland and smuggled abroad for parts.
He will be sentenced for abducting his two children at Dublin's Circuit Criminal Court on Monday.