A 41-year-old man who pleaded guilty to what was described as a despicable and horrendous sexual assault on a young Ryanair cabin crew member, has been ordered to pay €2,500 compensation to his victim.
Arturs Nagornijs, a construction company director who is from Latvia and based in Nice, France, was travelling from Nice to Riga and had taken connecting flights through Stansted and Dublin yesterday afternoon when the incident occurred.
He was released on bail with strict conditions until Friday to allow him access funds for the compensation.
Dublin District Court heard he had been observed by cabin crew acting erratically and lying across the lap of an elderly woman who was sitting beside him. He was repeatedly asked by cabin crew to sit up and did so initially but then lay down again and continued to annoy the elderly passenger.
When the plane landed he locked himself in a toilet. He then left the toilet but refused to leave the plane and sat on a seat where he urinated on himself, the seat and the floor.
A young cabin crew member tried to communicate with him, asking where his passport and shoes were.
Due to language difficulties, she turned to a colleague asking them to get Google Translate. As she turned she felt a hand up her skirt and was sexually assaulted by Nagornijs.
She jumped back in shock and became upset, telling colleagues "I can't do this".
The court was told that the young woman had been in the job for just six weeks.
The judge was told the victim was happy for the case to go ahead without a victim impact statement if the defendant was pleading guilty.
Gardaí said she was extremely distressed by the incident and could not work on her return flight. She remains extremely distressed, the court was told.
Defence solicitor Eoin Lysaght told the court his client was pleading guilty and had asked him to apologise.
He said he had too much to drink and had no recollection of the incident. He said the accused ran a building firm which operated in Nice and in Riga.
He said his client was availing of cheap flights from Nice to Stansted and then on to Dublin and Riga in Latvia. The court heard he had no connection to Ireland.
Judge Treasa Kelly described the incident as despicable and said she had no doubt the young woman went through "a horrendous" ordeal.
Gardaí had objected to bail but defence solicitor Eoin Lysaght said his client had no access to funds if he was to be remanded in custody.
The judge released him on bail in his own bond of €2,000 on condition that he sign on at a garda station twice a day, remain in the jurisdiction and surrender his passport.
Gardaí said it was clear from documentation in the man's possession that he had access to funds and he travelled from country to country to "secure deals".
The court was told he was the director of a construction company based in Nice.
