Thief who targeted Edgar Davids misses sentencing

A fraudster who pawned ex-Premier League star Edgar Davids' £188,000 modern art collection has failed to attend her sentencing hearing, claiming she was struck on the head with a bag on her way to the airport.

Nabila Habiby, 39, obtained £31,500 in loans by handing over 37 works of art belonging to Davids, after he had trusted her to put his possessions into storage during a house move.

Habiby, a wealth manager, pleaded guilty in September 2025 to two counts of fraud and was bailed with a warning that she could face up to 34 months in prison.

The judge ordered Habiby to attend Wood Green Crown Court on 23 September for sentencing and to provide a full medical report explaining her absence.

Davids only realised his paintings had gone when Habiby defaulted on the loans - the pawn shops sold the art to collectors around the world and one got in touch with him to inquire about the history of the painting.

The first attempt to sentence her in March was derailed when she made a failed bid to withdraw her guilty pleas.

On Friday, her case was listed for sentencing again, but Habiby was absent from the dock.

"I received correspondence this morning from my solicitor, at around 9:30 BST, saying on her way to the airport to come here she had been hit on the head by a piece of luggage en route," said defence barrister Hannah Thomas.

"She had a concussion, since she passed out, and was taken to the hospital where she remains on a drip."

Judge Emma Deacon KC said she had been handed "inadequate" medical evidence from Belgium – where Habiby now lives – to support her story.

But the judge agreed to adjourn the sentencing hearing anyway, so that the original judge who oversaw the case when guilty pleas were entered, could pass sentence.

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