A drunk Ryanair passenger has been found guilty of being drunk in an aircraft and assaulting an emergency services worker after he launched a vile, sexist tirade at cabin crew because they refused to serve him more alcohol. A warrant is out for the arrest of Mohammed Shiraz Riaz after he failed to turn up at Wirral Magistrates Court because he claimed he had to quarantine for COVID-19.
The trial went ahead in the absence of the 40-year-old suspect who was accused of shouting abuse and biting a police officer following the flight from Marrakesh to Liverpool in July 2019.
Giving evidence in court, senior crew member Jelena Zuravska said Riaz initially seemed friendly when he boarded the plane but his demeanour soon changed after downing four Jack Daniels and Coke.
Zuravska said she served Riaz the alcohol but when he demanded more she told him she was busy serving other customers. Riaz was then overheard muttering to himself: “f***ing fat b**** stewardess”.
“At this point I made the decision not to serve him any more alcohol, I didn’t want to make the situation any worse,” Zuravska told the court.
Riaz sat down for a while but persistently asked for more alcohol and became increasingly aggressive and disruptive when his demands were refused. “He started verbally attacking me personally, saying ‘who f***ed your mother fat stewardess white b****’,” Zuravska told the court in testimony reported by the Liverpool Echo.
“He seemed to have a real hatred towards women,” she continued.
Zuravska described how his behaviour became more and more unpredictable and how she feared he might attack her. During the flight he continued to shout vile abuse at her and at one point she became so concerned that she slipped a note under the flight deck door to alert the pilots.
Riaz got wind of what Zuravska was doing and shouted “f**k the police” before claiming that he could buy them off with a £200 bribe. In a written statement to the court, one of the other cabin crew on the flight backed up Zuravska’s versions of events.
The suspect continued to shout abuse as cabin crew prepared the aircraft for landing. The court heard how other passengers struggled to hear the safety announcement because Riaz was shouting so loud as Zuravska attempted to read the announcement at the front of the plane.
After landing, Riaz stood up while the aircraft was still moving and ignored safety instructions from the cabin crew. Police officers met the plane who told the court that Zuravska looked visibly upset when she opened the door.
Riaz presented his wrists to the officers and said “you may as well handcuff me now” but then claimed that cabin crew had called police to make him “look stupid”.
He went into an irate rant and bit one of the police officers on the arm as he was being transported to the police station. During a police interview, Riaz admitted being drunk and said that he had taken two Tramadol tablets before boarding the flight.
Photo Credit: Mainka / Shutterstock.com
