Air passenger sexually assaulted woman sitting beside him on flight to Belfast
An air passenger who sexually assaulted a woman seated beside him on a flight to Belfast has avoided being sent to prison.
Stephen McClatchey, 33, was given a 10-month probation order for groping the victim during the alcohol-fuelled incident.
A judge at Belfast Magistrates’ Court branded his actions “outrageous” and “nasty”.
McClatchey, of Killyglen Road in Larne, Co Antrim, admitted carrying out the sexual assault on September 13, 2024.
The court heard he became loud and disruptive while drinking on board the flight from London to the Belfast City Airport.
Cabin staff refused to serve him any more alcohol as his behaviour towards other passengers became increasingly inappropriate.
McClatchey, a regular air traveller for work in England, then targeted the unknown woman seated beside him.
“The female passenger reported that the defendant, without permission, took hold of her breast in his hand and squeezed it,” a prosecution lawyer said.
She was so distressed that she remained in her seat until he disembarked after the aeroplane landed in Belfast.
Police were alerted, but McClatchey had left the airport before officers arrived.
During subsequent interviews he initially claimed the victim made it up because he was not interested in her, the court heard.
Defence counsel Paul Burns said his client remembers little about the alcohol-fuelled incident and has since stopped drinking.
“It was totally out of character and he is deeply remorseful, " the barrister submitted. “He flies all the time and there has never been any incident before or after this.”
Deputy District Judge Liam McStay was critical of McClatchey’s initial version of events. “He didn’t have any difficulty in telling police she was trying to come on to him,” Mr McStay commented.
The judge also held the offence was serious enough to warrant a potential custodial sentence. “It is outrageous to hear, everybody in this court can imagine either being on holiday or a trip that gets disrupted by somebody behaving like this,” he said.
“This is probably the worst possible, most nasty way you can imagine that happening.”
But based on the defendant’s previous clear record and recommendations, Mr McStay imposed a 10-month probation order.
McClatchey must take part in 20 days of rehabilitation activities and 100 days of alcohol abstinence monitoring as part of his sentence.
He was also ordered to pay £500 compensation to the victim.