A Scottish builder has been sentenced to nearly a year in prison after sexually assaulting four Jet2 cabin crew members during a holiday flight, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency diversion.
Shocking Mid-Air Assaults Force Diversion
Joseph McCabe, 40, from Tollcross in Glasgow, carried out a series of sexual assaults on the crew during a Jet2 flight from Edinburgh to Tenerife on 15 March last year. The former soldier, who now runs his own construction firm, targeted both male and female staff after drinking excessively, which he later attributed to a family bereavement.
The court heard that around 90 minutes into the morning flight, which carried approximately 110 passengers including families and children, McCabe first approached a female flight attendant. He touched her buttocks and, when she turned around, he was "looking at her with a smirk on his face". He then made inappropriate sexual comments about her tights and makeup, asking her age and where she lived.
His behaviour escalated as the flight continued. He went on to slap the buttocks of a male steward and attempted to hug a second female crew member. McCabe also placed his hands on a third female employee for around 30 seconds.
Written Warning Ripped Up and Plane Diverted
After cabin crew issued him a verbal warning for his drunken conduct, McCabe was given a written warning. In a further act of defiance, he ripped up the written warning in front of the staff. With his behaviour showing no signs of improving, the captain made the decision to divert the aircraft for the safety of passengers and crew.
Air traffic control instructed the pilot to land at Porto Santo airport. Upon landing, instead of remaining seated, McCabe got up and began dancing in the aisle. Portuguese police boarded the flight, arrested him, and took him into custody. The holiday flight eventually resumed its journey, landing in Tenerife two hours late.
Court Sentencing and Lifetime Ban
McCabe pleaded guilty to four sexual offences at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month. Returning for sentencing on Friday, Sheriff Alison Stirling told him the offences involved "a high level of culpability and a high level of harm".
She sentenced him to 46 weeks in custody. In addition to the jail term, Sheriff Stirling placed McCabe on the sex offenders register for 10 years and imposed non-harassment orders, banning him from any contact with the victims indefinitely.
The court was told that Jet2 had issued McCabe with a lifelong ban from flying with the airline following his arrest. He had also refused to pay a £5,000 fine imposed by the carrier for his conduct.
Defence solicitor Anna Kocela said her client, a self-employed building boss and father of two, was remorseful. McCabe had previously served as a private in the Royal Logistic Corps for five years and later set up a clothing business in memory of a friend who died during the Covid-19 lockdown. He now co-owns a party boat business called The Drunken Anchor alongside his construction work.
