Virgin Atlantic passenger who threatened to gang-rape and set alight air hostess has sentence tripled

Before unleashing the violent outburst, Iftikhar had been drinking heavily on the eight-hour flight.

After he attempted to use his hands to help himself to ice, he was told by a member of cabin crew to return to his seat.

The 38-year-old proceeded to hurl a torrent of abuse at Ms Walsh, telling her she would be kidnapped from her hotel room in Pakistan, gang-raped and set alight.

In a shocking video filmed in February 2023, Iftikhar accused the hostess of racism, stating: "You called me a P**i in front of everybody."

He was also heard saying: "Don't tell me what to do you racist f***ing b***h. I know where you are from in Cardiff."

His actions were deemed so serious that crew discussed possibly diverting to Turkey, to which the 38-year-old responded to by saying: "I don’t care. F**k it, go to Turkey. I have contacts."

The unruly passenger went onto call Ms Walsh a "white sheep sh**ging b***h" who would end up "dead".

He was initially sentenced to 15 months behind bars at Isleworth Crown Court for one count of threats to kill and one count of racially aggravated intentional harassment.

The vile flyer was seen sobbing as the judge delivered the verdict.

On Tuesday, the Court of Appeal hiked the sentence to four years and three months after the case was referred under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

Speaking about how the incident impacted her, Ms Walsh revealed that she was forced to take 14 months off work.

The air hostess said: "I was working when all flights were grounded on 9/11, and I've even flown into a warzone.

"But this incident has broken me."

Solicitor General Ellie Reeves said: “Salman Iftikhar made horrific threats of rape and violence against an air steward who was simply doing her job.

"His tirade of hate and abuse caused distress and anguish for the whole flight, and all of our thoughts today should be with the cabin crew and passengers who suffered from Iftikhar’s vile behaviour.

“Law officers referred Iftikhar’s sentence to the Court of Appeal after several requests to review the case from members of the public.

"I hope this brings comfort and a sense of justice to those impacted, and underlines that our criminal justice system works for victims and vulnerable people.”

At the time of the incident, the 38-year-old had been travelling with his wife and three children.

Iftikhar has six previous convictions for a variety of offences, including assault, drink-driving and possession of cannabis.

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