A drunk and disruptive newlywed groped one flight attendant and threatened to maim one of her colleagues during an Emirates flight from Dubai to Manchester on March 17, 2022.
Mohammed Razaq, 29, has been jailed for 18 months after he pleaded guilty to a ream of offences, including drunkenness on an aircraft, affray, sexual assault and criminal damage.
Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester heard how Razaq drank excessively before boarding the flight in Dubai as he drowned his sorrows because his family disapproved of his new marriage to a bride they didn’t like.
Razaq was travelling home after spending three weeks in Pakistan, where he had tied the knot and started to drink in Dubai Airport before consuming more alcohol onboard the plane.
Cabin crew decided to stop serving Razaq alcohol around three hours into the flight after he started to visibly sway in his seat and intimidate other passengers, prosecutors told the court.
Razaq then started to pester other passengers to get alcohol for him, but his seatmates refused to help him.
At one point, Razaq groped a female flight attendant as she bent down to collect rubbish on the cabin floor. He then threatened to punch a male flight attendant and told the female cabin crew manager that he would “bite your nose and ears off and burn you like Guy Fawkes”.
He then punched a seat with such force that the headrest was left bent out of shape. Emirates says it cost £200 to repair the damage.
Razaq continued to ask for more alcohol until he eventually passed out in his seat. The flight continued to Manchester, where Razaq was arrested on arrival.
The long-serving purser told the court it was the worst experience she had ever faced while working at the Dubai-based airline for the past seven years. The crew member who Razaq physically assaulted said the incident shook her confidence and made her nervous about returning to work.
