🔴 FLIGHT FROM HELL: ITALIAN CONVICTED OF ATTEMPTED RAPE ON EDINBURGH PLANE 

A 45-year-old Italian national has been found guilty of attempting to rape a Scottish woman during a night-time commercial flight from Naples to Edinburgh, following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The jury rejected a defence of consent and returned a non-unanimous guilty verdict under Scotland’s recently reformed jury system, convicting the accused of an attempted rape committed on board an Edinburgh-bound EasyJet aircraft on 13 May.

The court heard that the complainer, a woman from Aberdeenshire born in 1993, had been travelling alone on the flight, which departed Naples at around 9.30pm and was approximately two-thirds full.

She had been seated by a window, reading, when the accused moved from his allocated seat to sit beside her shortly after take-off.

Evidence before the court established that the accused initiated contact by offering the woman wine.

Although the two did not share a common language, the woman told jurors they communicated through gestures, with the accused speaking Italian and appearing to have no English.

After accepting the offer of wine, she said the situation escalated rapidly and without warning.

Prosecutors told the jury that the accused exposed himself and attempted to force the woman’s hand and head towards his exposed crotch.

She resisted, pulling away, and repeatedly attempted to disengage.

At one point, she told him she had a husband in an effort to deter him, but the behaviour continued.

A fellow passenger seated directly behind them witnessed elements of the incident and provided corroborative evidence.

The court also heard from a member of the cabin crew, who described the woman as visibly distressed when she reported the assault

Forensic evidence was led showing a trace of the accused’s semen on the woman’s cheek, a finding the Crown said was wholly inconsistent with consent and strongly supportive of her account.

The accused did not dispute that sexual contact had occurred but maintained it was consensual, claiming the woman had “provoked” him and later changed her mind.

In his evidence, he told the court: “She excited me.”

The jury rejected that explanation.

The prosecution case was that the entire encounter took place without consent and involved escalating sexual aggression in the confined environment of an aircraft cabin, where the complainer’s ability to escape was limited.

The incident occurred while the aircraft was airborne, shortly after departure from Italy, placing it within the jurisdiction of the Scottish courts.

The court heard that after the accused gestured for the woman to accompany him to the toilet, she indicated that he should go first.

When he entered the cubicle, she instead approached cabin crew and reported that she had been sexually assaulted.

Crew members intervened immediately, preventing the accused from leaving the toilet area and moving the woman to the front of the aircraft.

Upon landing in Edinburgh, officers from Police Scotland were contacted and the accused was arrested on the runway.

He was later charged with attempted rape.

During the trial, Judge Alison Stirling directed the jury on the law of consent and reasonable belief, reminding them that the absence of resistance does not equate to consent and that consent can be withdrawn at any time.

She described the case as a difficult one but emphasised the jury’s duty to assess the evidence calmly and objectively.

In her remarks following the verdict, the judge noted that the trial was among the first to conclude under Scotland’s revised jury verdict system following the abolition of the “not proven” verdict.

She told jurors they were participating in a historic moment in Scottish criminal justice, as verdicts were now returned solely as guilty or not guilty.

The accused was remanded in custody following conviction.

The court ordered the preparation of background and risk assessment reports ahead of sentencing, which is scheduled to take place on 6 February.

The conviction follows earlier evidence led from cabin crew and passengers, as well as detailed forensic testimony, which prosecutors said painted a clear and consistent picture of an attempted sexual assault carried out without consent.

The woman’s identity remains protected under statutory reporting restrictions.

The case underscores the application of Scots criminal law to serious sexual offences committed on international flights arriving in Scotland and the court’s willingness to scrutinise claims of consent against objective evidence, witness testimony and forensic findings.