A wealthy recruitment boss who threatened to gang rape and set alight a Virgin Atlantic stewardess has been jailed for 15 months.
Salman Iftikhar, 37, was staying in first class with his wife and three children when he unleashed a vile tirade on Angie Walsh at 39,000 feet during a flight from London Heathrow to Lahore.
The father, who had been binging on champagne, hurled death threats and racist abuse at cabin crew on the eight hour flight after he was told to stop helping himself to ice from the onboard bar.
He called Ms Walsh a ‘f****** b****’ several times and told her she would be dragged out of her hotel room, gang raped and set alight – comments which she said left her ‘broken’ and ‘traumatised’.
Iftikhar 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 finally arrested at his £900,000 detached home in Iver, Buckinghamshire, on March 16, 2024, more than a year on from the vile outburst.
This is the moment Virgin Atlantic passenger Salman Iftikhar, 37, (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
He admitted making threats to kill and racially aggravated harassment at Isleworth Crown Court and was jailed for 15 months.
‘Mr Iftikhar was seen drinking champagne at the onboard bar, where he was talking to cabin crew,’ said prosecutor Abdul Kapadia.
‘During the defendant’s first meal service, the defendant was seen helping himself to ice, leaning over bar he was drinking at, and taking ice with his hands.
‘When told to stop, the defendant became irate, and started to film cabin crew with his phone, telling them: “Do not tell me what to do you b****.”
‘When asked by the cabin crew to return to his seat, he then said: “Don’t tell me what to do you racist f-king bitch. I know where you are from in Cardiff.”
The pilot was then contacted, and turned the seat belt lights on.
‘The defendant then shouted, and said: “Look at this b**** having the seat belt sign on when there was no turbulence. What the f*** is this b**** doing?’
Iftikhar returned to his seat and called crew member Angie Walsh a ‘f****** b****.’
Iftikhar is seen here in one rant repeatedly accusing Ms Walsh of being a racist and says: ‘You called me a p*ki in front of everybody’
The person filming the interaction can be heard saying ‘holy s***’ as Iftikhar goes back to his seat following the tirade
Mr Kapadia said: ‘The defendant’s behaviour became worse. The cabin crew discussed a diversion to Turkey.
‘The defendant was informed of this possible diversion, to which he replied: ‘I don’t care. f*** it, go to Turkey. I have contacts.
‘The defendant then sat down, but his aggressive behaviour continued.
‘His wife was ashamed. His three children were also on-board, and other crew members were called to assist, but the defendant continued shouting and swearing.
‘He was slurring his words, with his voice raised.
‘He shouted at the cabin crew: “Do you know who I am?”
‘The defendant’s wife went to the food bar and tried to talk to cabin crew, but the defendant pushed his wife away, and shouted at her not to talk to crew.
‘A crew member stabilised the wife’s arm to prevent her from falling when she was pushed.
Angie (left) with her sister and fellow Virgin Atlantic air steward Claire Walsh. Angie said the comments made by Iftikhar left her ‘broken’ and ‘traumatised’
‘The defendant then got up, and threatened to fight the cabin crew.
‘He grabbed one flight attendant, called Tommy Merchant, and told him to shut up and go away.
‘He told Mr Merchant: “Do you know who I am? F*** off. You should know who I am. Come on you heard me. Let’s go right now.”
‘Staff tried to calm the defendant down. The defendant was asked if there was anything the cabin crew could do.
‘But Mr Iftikhar leant forward and grabbed Ms Walsh’s hand, squeezing it.
‘Iftikhar called Ms Walsh a ‘f****** white Welsh c***.’
Mr Kapadia added: ‘The defendant also threatened to blow up the floor of the Avari Lahore Hotel, where the cabin crew were due to stay.
‘The defendant knew the specific hotel, but also the hotel room numbers, and threatened the cabin crew with this.
Iftikhar (pictured) was finally arrested at his £900,000 detached home in Buckinghamshire on March 16, 2024 – more than a year on from the vile outburst
‘He told Ms Walsh: “You will be dead on the floor of your hotel”.
‘Iftikhar shouted at Ms Walsh and said: “The white sheep sh****** b**** will be dead. The floor of your hotel will be blown up and it will disappear.
‘He told Ms Walsh: “You will be dragged by your hair from your room and gang raped and set on fire”.
‘The defendant said this while his three young children were crying and pleading for him to stop.’
The details of the hotel turned out to be correct, and Ms Walsh had to stay there overnight, and could not sleep, Mr Kapadia said.
Mr Kapadia said when the plane landed in Pakistan no action was taken against Iftikhar.
Ms Walsh sat in court accompanied by her sister, Claire Walsh, who is also a Virgin Atlantic flight attendant in their uniforms.
She told how she had to take 14 months off work in a victim impact statement read to the court.
Iftikhar (pictured) is the director and founder of recruitment firm Staffing Match, according to his LinkedIn profile
She said: ‘I feel like what happened that day has changed my life enormously.
‘I can’t quite believe that one passenger has had this much of an impact on my, my job, my career and my life.
‘I am a strong brave, happy stewardess, and loved my job. I am well known within the company.
‘I have been flying with Virgin Atlantic for 37 years. 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.
‘But I don’t feel strong enough anymore. I was abused for eight hours and 15 mins. It has broken me. It was a very personal attack.
‘I was doing everything in my power to protect passengers and the crew from him. I felt exposed and vulnerable, especially as we were 39,000 feet in the air. There was nowhere for me to go.
‘There was one moment where I felt I could not cope. I went into the cockpit and had a meltdown. I said to the captain I don’t know what to do.
‘Even the threat of diverting the plane to Turkey or Baku, Azerbaijan, had no effect.
‘I was traumatised by the threat of being gang raped.
‘Never in my entire career flying for 37 years have I not been sure what to do.
‘I have had the best career in the world for 37 years. But he has taken that away from me.’
Iftikhar, of Iver, Bucks, admitted making threats to kill and racially aggravated harassment, in relation to Ms Walsh.
He was cleared of assault by beating and threats to kill in relation to Mr Merchant.
Ben Walker-Nolan, defending, said Iftikhar was suffering from ‘amnesia blood loss’, which contributed to what happened.
Mr Walker-Nolan added: ‘Although there were over 100 incidents over the course of eight hours, the most serious, including threats to kill, were limited.
‘The defendant has buried his head in the sand for a long period, and expressed regret.
‘He has a long standing drug and alcohol problem which he has not addressed for many years.
‘He is a successful businessman who employs a lot of people.’
Iftikhar has six previous convictions arising from 15 offences, including common assault in 2004 and drink driving in 2008.
He was fined £3,000 in 2021 after he was caught drink driving, as well as being under the influence of cannabis in his Rolls Royce in 2021.
Family members wept in the public gallery as the judge Ms Recorder Annabel Darlow KC said: ‘Your threats to kill were made in the presence of children, specifically your three young children.
‘These were threats made with significant violence.
‘Your children had to be comforted by cabin crew staff while you made those threats.
‘Ms Walsh has given up a job which she has loved for 14 months, but thankfully has now returned to work.
‘This was a sustained incident which involved repeated racist abuse to Ms Walsh.
‘You have a lengthy and appalling record of misconduct. You have not addressed the underlying cause of this for many years, that is your drug and alcohol problem.
‘Given your lifestyle and your ability to earn money, your harm and risk has not moved.
‘This was an appalling incident which has caused long lasting and devastating consequences.’
Iftikhar, who appeared in the dock wearing a grey suit with a pink shirt, and a yellow tie wept as he was jailed for 15 months.
According to his LinkedIn profile he is the director and founder of recruitment firm Staffing Match.
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson commented: ‘The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority, and we take a zero-tolerance approach to any disruptive or abusive behaviour on board our aircraft.
‘We will always work closely with the relevant authorities and will not hesitate to seek prosecution for those individuals that cause disruption onboard through unacceptable behaviour.”
‘We’re incredibly grateful to Angie and our cabin crew onboard who dealt with this distressing situation in a calm, courageous and professional manner. We are proud of Angie for her bravery in court and we will continue to offer her our full support.’
