Man who tried to rape passenger on Easyjet flight wins appeal to reduce sentence

A man who tried to rape an aeroplane passenger on a flight between Italy and Scotland has won an appeal to reduce his prison sentence.

Nicola Cristiano, 46, was jailed for six years earlier this year after he was convicted of attempting to rape the victim on an Easyjet plane flying from Naples to Edinburgh.

Lawyers acting for the sex offender appealed against the sentence imposed on him following the attack, arguing that it was excessive.

Judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh ruled that the jail term should be quashed and imposed a lesser penalty of five years’ imprisonment.

Lord Clark, who heard the appeal with Lady Wise, said: “We are persuaded a custodial term of six years was excessive, although only to a limited extent.”

Defence solicitor advocate Simon Collins said it was accepted that Cristiano was found guilty of a very serious offence and that a custodial sentence was the only appropriate disposal.

But he pointed out that the Italian national was a first offender who has no other matters before the courts in Scotland or in his homeland and has a background of working to support his family.

Mr Collins told the appeal judges: “This is an unusual and perhaps exceptional case.”

He said that sentencing guidelines for the completed offence of rape would have indicated a sentence of between five and seven years being imposed in the circumstances, but in this instance it was not a completed act of rape.

The court heard that the impact on the crime on the victim was serious and ongoing following the assault on the evening flight on May 13 last year.

Judge Alison Stirling, who jailed Cristiano after his earlier trial, told him: “The loss of her safety has followed her from beyond the flight and into her daily life.”

She said: “What has happened to her will have a lasting impact on her life.”

The woman, from Aberdeenshire, was sitting at a window seat on the flight with the seats next to her unoccupied. Cristiano offered the woman some wine and moved to sit beside her before sexually assaulting her.

She told him “no” several times.

He then signalled for her to go to the toilet with him. The woman indicated she would follow him to the cubicle, but then took the opportunity to alert the cabin crew to what had happened. She was crying and hysterical.

During the trial, Cristiano, from Naples, had claimed that what occurred was consensual, which the jury did not accept.