UK court sentences man to jail for groping, threatening crew on Emirates Dubai flight
A UK court sentenced a man to 18 months in jail for groping a flight attendant on an Emirates airline flight from Dubai to Manchester last March.
Mohammed Razaq was handed the sentence in a Manchester court one year after groping a female flight attendant and threatening her, and swearing at passengers, the Daily Mail reported on Thursday.
The 29-year-old was intoxicated when he threatened one flight attendant that he would “burn her like Guy Fawkes” and told a male passenger to “Go f*** their mothers,” the British daily reported.
“Come on and punch me and I’ll knock your f***ing head off,” he reportedly told another.
Razaq, a newlywed, was acting disrespectfully after fearing backlash from his family for marrying a woman they supposedly disapproved of, in his native Pakistan, according to the report.
The court was told that Razaq spent three weeks in Pakistan and had been “drinking heavily in the airport out of sorrow because his parents didn’t like his new bride.”
Mid-flight, he also reportedly punched a seat and bent the headrest, causing $248 (£200) in damage.
As Razaq became more intoxicated and unruly, the airline staff refused to serve more alcohol, at which point he asked around for drinks from passengers near him before passing out, the Daily Mail reported.
Razaq was arrested at the Manchester airport.
The hostess he groped was quoted as saying: “It took me some time to feel confident on my next flight. It will take some time to forget that feeling,” by the British daily.
Her colleague was quoted as saying: “I can honestly say it was the worst experience that I have encountered working for Emirates for the last seven years.”