UK man faces jail for "accidentally" slapping Ryanair stewardess on bottom

Groom-to-be ‘who slapped Ryanair stewardess on the bottom’ could be jailed

A FIANCE who assaulted an air stewardess while returning from his stag do has been warned he could be jailed.

Peter Thompson, of Cranbrook Road, Poole, admitted being drunk on a Ryanair flight from Alicante to Bournemouth on May 4 and also pleaded guilty to one charge of assault.

The prosecution alleged he slapped the Ryanair stewardess on the bottom but Thompson, 48, claimed he accidentally made contact with her back while gesticulating in excitement.

Thompson, who works at a private language school, will be sentenced at Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court on June 16 – two months before he is due to get married in August. Magistrates have asked for pre-sentence reports but warned they were not ruling out any sentencing options, including custody.


Lee Turner, prosecuting at Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court, read a statement from the air stewardess in which she said Thompson told her she was very pretty and that he loved her.

“He was looking at me as if I was a piece of meat,” her statement said.

She later noticed he moved from the seat and was sitting on the lap of his friend.

“As she walked past he smacked her bottom with his open right hand,” said Mr Turner. “She pushed his hand away and said: ‘Don’t do that again’.”

Mr Turner added: “He wasn’t aggressive, she thinks he was trying to be funny but was actually very disrespectful.”

James Moore, defending, said Thompson had consumed alcohol before the flight, along with an antihistamine tablet, and was then sold a discounted alcoholic drink by the air stewardess on the plane.

He read Thompson’s basis of plea, which said he was in high spirits and looking forward to seeing his fiancée when the incident happened.

He said he flailed his arms to express himself and accidentally made contact with the stewardess as she walked past.

Mr Moore said: “He’s sat on the arm of a chair with a friend. He’s barely aware that he’s even touched her.

“Unfortunately, she got this wrong.

“What we have here is a man not intentionally making contact with the flight attendant. It wasn’t nasty, it wasn’t malicious, it didn’t cause any trouble. This is not a sinister, nasty offence – it didn’t put anyone at risk.”