A man who performed a sex act while sitting next to a mother and her infant son on a flight from Dubai to Newcastle has avoided jail.
Britto Lorence, 27, of Abingdon Road, Middlesbrough, was on the Emirates flight in June last year when the woman noticed him touching himself under a pillow, a court heard.
He was reported to cabin crew and arrested upon arrival at Newcastle International Airport.
Guilty plea and court proceedings
Lorence initially pleaded not guilty at Newcastle Magistrates' Court in January to one count of outraging public decency, 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.
The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report, but Lorence later applied to change his plea again, claiming he had been "put under pressure" to admit the offence.
Judge's ruling and sentence
District Judge Kate Meek refused the application to vacate his plea and sentenced him 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.
The judge 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."
Prosecution details
Brian Payne, prosecuting, said the woman described Lorence having a pillow on his lap and initially appearing to be asleep before she spotted him acting indecently. She raised the alarm by going to cabin staff.
In a statement, the woman 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.
Lorence, who has a visa to work in the UK and manages a cafe, previously completed a Masters degree in food science at Teesside University. He still denies committing the offence.
