WIGAN MAN GETS SUSPENDED JAIL FOR DRUNKEN SEXUAL ASSAULT ON FLIGHT
Craig Lowe, 53, a resident of Wigan, was involved in an incident during a flight from Manchester to Tenerife on November 12, 2023.He consumed six small bottles of red wine during the four-and-a-half-hour flight, after which he began making lewd and crude sexual remarks towards a woman sitting next to him, asking, "Are you going to f*** me then?".
Following some initial light-hearted banter, Lowe escalated by suggesting, "Would you come back to my hotel room so I can f*** you?" and groped her inner thigh, as reported in Manchester Crown Court.
He repeated his inappropriate question, prompting the woman to excuse herself to use the toilet and avoiding further advances, but Lowe continued to touch her thigh twice more, causing her to freeze before she told him to stop, which he eventually did.
Additionally, Lowe verbally assaulted another passenger who tried to help him after he dropped his phone, threatening, "I'm going to kill you...
go on...
I'll have you outside." His disruptive behaviour continued after landing as he and the other passenger disembarked and boarded a bus to the terminal.
The victim expressed her distress in a personal statement, saying, "This journey was supposed to be a relaxing trip away with my family after ten sets of shifts.
I am now anxious to travel and I'll never sit on my own again." She revealed her nerves about flying had worsened and expressed concern over the lack of CCTV on the plane, which made her feel more vulnerable.
During the case, Lowe’s lawyer stated he was battling alcoholism at the time, which had negatively affected his life and marriage, and that he was drinking at the airport intending to reinvent himself but acted disgracefully.
Lowe has since quit alcohol and reportedly turned his life around.
Judge Timothy Smith sentenced Lowe to a 28-week suspended prison sentence after admitting to boarding an aircraft while intoxicated and committing sexual assault.
He was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, 20 days of rehabilitation, and to register as a sex offender for seven years.
