Patrick Noone, a spiritualist and farmer, walked free from court with a suspended prison sentence after sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl on an Aer Lingus transatlantic flight in 2023.
Assault on board flight to Boston
The court heard Noone moved seats to sit next to the teenage girl on the flight from Shannon Airport to Boston. He groped her without consent and kissed her arm after telling her: "Oh God, I would shift you if I was 20 years younger."
He told the girl he was travelling to New Hampshire "to heal a house" and had drunk several whiskeys before boarding. The victim alerted cabin crew, leading the captain to divert the plane back to Shannon, where Noone was arrested. The diversion cost over €28,000.
Victim's impact statement
In a victim impact statement, the teenager said that "in between brief naps, he would touch me inappropriately". She described how she gave him "gummy bears as a deliberate distraction so I could stop him from touching me".
She recalled: "During the entire incident I felt entirely trapped. I was strapped down into a seat with a man who I did not know was touching me in places that I did not want him to touch me. I never felt more violated, nor more afraid. I can only assume that had I stayed he would have gone further."
The court also heard Noone told the girl she had "the features of a real woman" and moved his hand up and down her arm and kissed her hand, before touching her thigh and grabbing her buttocks. He also made crude comments, including "I hope I didn’t make you wet."
Consequences and sentence
Noone’s marriage has ended as a result of the incident, and he faces divorce proceedings. He has attended counselling. In a probation report, Noone said he is "living every day with the consequences of his actions on that flight." His defence team said: "Mr Noone is horrified that he did this to a young girl, given the fact that he has four daughters from 21 to 10 years of age."
When interviewed by gardaí, Noone said he had no recollection of the touching or the comments and said he was "horrified and shocked" by the allegations. He later said: "I’m terribly sorry – I’m always helping people."
Judge Comerford said all sexual assaults are serious, but noted the offences fell into the lower range as they occurred outside clothing. However, he stressed the seriousness was heightened because the victim was 16. He took into account Noone’s guilty plea, lack of previous convictions and cooperation with gardaí, and ordered his name be placed on the sex offenders register. A probation report concluded Noone was at low risk of re-offending, and the judge said courts are slow to imprison first-time offenders in such circumstances.
