A man has been sentenced for performing a sex act on an Emirates flight in front of a mother and her young son, leaving the woman 'distressed'. Britto Lorence, 27, of Abingdon Road, Middlesbrough, appeared at Newcastle Magistrates' Court and pleaded guilty to one count of outraging public decency.
Incident on Dubai to Newcastle flight
The incident occurred on June 2 last year during a long-haul Emirates flight from Dubai to Newcastle. Lorence was seated beside a woman and her young son. The court heard that when the woman got up to prepare food for her child, she noticed Lorence had a blanket over his lap and was performing a sex act.
The woman reported the matter to cabin crew, and Lorence was arrested upon arrival at Newcastle International Airport.
Court proceedings and sentencing
Lorence initially pleaded not guilty, and the case was listed for trial. However, on the day the trial was due to start in May, he changed his plea to guilty. He later applied to change his plea again, claiming he had been 'put under pressure' to admit the offence.
District Judge Kate Meek refused the application and sentenced Lorence to an 18-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £914 in costs and a victim surcharge.
In her ruling, Judge Meek said: "Your guilty plea stands. You're convicted by your guilty plea and you fall to be sentenced. Your offence was a serious offence." She added: "It is also going to be treated more seriously because the people affected by it were passengers on a plane and they couldn't absent themselves from the situation and one of those people sat next to you was a very young child."
The judge noted that Lorence had pleaded guilty on the day of trial but then tried to set aside the plea, so he received "a very small amount of credit".
Victim's account
In a statement, the victim said she had been "deeply distressed" by the incident but had tried not to get too alarmed on the flight for the sake of her son. The court heard that Lorence had a visa to work in the UK and was a manager of a cafe. He had previously completed a Masters degree at Teesside University in food science.
Lorence still denies committing the offence.
