A thug jailed for abusing first class cabin crew on a flight from London will have his sentence reviewed for being ‘unduly lenient’.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called on the Attorney General Lord Hermer to consider recommending the Court of Appeal increase the 15-month jail term handed to Salman Iftihar.
Mr Philp said the sentence was evidence of ‘two-tier justice’, given Lucy Connolly was jailed for 31 months for a tweet about the Southport riots.
Mr Philp told the Mail: ‘Iftikar was sentenced to only 15 months in prison last week for threatening an air stewardess with gang rape and for racially aggravated harassment. Iftikhar has multiple previous convictions.
‘Yet Lucy Connolly got 31 months for a far less serious offence – a prosecution Lord Hermer personally authorised.
‘This is two-tier justice in action.
‘I have today referred the case to the Attorney General Lord Hermer for review under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
‘We’ll now find out if Hermer is willing to take action to fix Britain’s two-tier justice problem.’
This is the moment Virgin Atlantic passenger Salman Iftikhar (centre) launched a vile tirade towards the cabin crew of his flight after being told to stop helping himself to ice from the bar
Iftikhar (pictured) was staying in first class with his wife and three children when he unleashed a swathe of abuse at 39,000 feet during a flight from London Heathrow to Lahore
Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary, has written to the Attorney General regarding the 15-month sentence handed to Iftikhar
Recruitment tycoon Iftikhar, 37, was flying in first class when he launched a vile tirade of abuse towards Virgin Atlantic staff on a flight from London Heathrow to Lahore in his homeland of Pakistan.
Wealthy passengers aboard the flight watched in horror as the recruitment boss repeatedly called steward Angie Walsh a ‘f***ing b****’ at 39,000ft.
The father-of-three later threatened to blow-up the five-star hotel the cabin crew were set to stay in.
Isleworth Crown Court heard he left Ms Walsh ‘broken’ and ‘traumatised’ having declared she would be dragged out of her hotel room and assaulted.
The businessman had been binging on champagne, and also tried to fight another steward and even threatened to blow up the floor of the Avari Lahore Hotel, where the cabin crew were due to stay.
In one clip of Iftikhar’s 100 rants during the trip, he can be heard repeatedly accusing Ms Walsh of being a racist and says: ‘You called me a p*ki in front of everybody.’
All this unfolded in front of Iftikhar’s wife and children who were crying and pleading for him to stop and had to be comforted by the cabin crew as he continued to hurl abuse for the entire flight.
Iftikhar was later arrested at his detached home in Iver, Buckinghamshire, and admitted making threats to kill and racially aggravated harassment.
Lucy Connolly was imprisoned at HMP Drake Hall, Staffordshire after she pleaded guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred following the Southport Riots last summer
The post, which she later deleted, said: ‘Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care… if that makes me racist so be it’
Connolly with her husband Ray Connolly, a local councillor
Mr Philp said the sentence given to the Pakistani national was evidence of ‘two-tier justice’
He and his wife Erum Salman, 38, run a London-based staffing company that provides training to businesses working in customer service and manufacturing.
Mr Philp compared his sentence with that of councillor’s wife Connolly, who was jailed after admitting to making her ‘racist’ post on X, formerly known as Twitter in the wake of the Southport riots.
The post, which she later deleted, said: ‘Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care… if that makes me racist so be it.’
She lost an appeal to shorten her 31-month sentence earlier this year.
In his letter to Lord Hermer, Mr Philp said Connolly – who is due for release later this month – ‘made a wrong and distatesful social media post’, but said Iftikhar made ‘over 100 sickening threats’ to cabin crew, and has previous convictions.
Mr Philp wrote: ‘I am sure you agree that this cannot be right.
‘Given the severity of the threats and the vile language used by Iftikhar, I believe his sentence should be reconsidered and increased and I urge you to refer his case for review under the Unduly Lenient Scheme, which covers the offences for which Iftikhar was convicted.
‘If you decide not to refer his sentence for reconsideration, then this would be yet another example of two-tier justice under this Government.’
The scheme allows anyone to ask for a Crown Court sentence to be reviewed by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO).
If officers consider the sentence unduly lenient, they can ask the Court of Appeal to review the sentence.
It will then be up to judges to decide whether or not the original sentence was appropriate.
The offence of making threats to kill carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, but can be dealt with by a community order.
Racially aggravated harassment carries a maximum jail term of up to two years’ custody.
