Married businessman who slapped spouse and tried to kiss male flight attendant after booze binge on approach again from Bahamas is jailed
A drunken businessman who had to be sedated after he assaulted his wife and tried to kiss a flight attendant has been jailed.
Philip Gould, 64, had been drinking wine and vodka when he unleashed a vile tirade of abuse at cabin crew on the British Airways flight from the Bahamas to London Heathrow on June 25 last year.
Gould was returning home from a luxury holiday in Grand Cayman with his wife when he slapped her and then abused the cabin crew during a ‘frightening’ hours-long ordeal.
And he crudely propositioned a male flight attendant after being refused more alcohol.
He repeatedly called cabin crew a four-letter word before he lunged towards the cockpit door and began angrily shouting at the captain.
The court heard he had to be sedated by his wife with the assistance of a doctor.
Gould earlier admitted sexual assault, acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft and being drunk in an aircraft.
Judge Hannah Duncan handed Gould a 14-month immediate custodial sentence at Isleworth Crown Court today, after saying he engaged in ‘upsetting and frightening’ behaviour which ‘recklessly put the safety of the crew on the aircraft in danger’.
Philip Gould pictured outside Isleworth Crown Court admitted being drunk on a British Airways flight from the Bahamas
She said: ‘No-one on that flight who was at your end of the plane is likely to forget it, ever.
‘I suspect they will be quite nervous about getting on a flight in the future.’
The court heard Gould handed police a prepared statement following his arrest back in England
in which he dismissed some of his conduct as ‘playful banter’.
The judge said: ‘This was a prolonged incident where you ignored all attempts to diffuse the situation, in which you behaved in an entirely appalling manner in a number of ways.’
Ashleigh Ettienne, prosecuting, said at an earlier hearing: ‘After three hours into the flight, the defendant appeared to be drunk and cabin crew were made aware.
‘Ten minutes later he approached the cockpit and started banging on the door and was seen shouting at cabin crew, the captain and passengers.
‘Cabin crew deemed his actions a serious safety issue so they positioned themselves between the flight deck door and the defendant.
‘The defendant pushed a cabin crew member in his chest with his arm which caused him to stumble back and bump into a passenger.’
BA staff alerted the pilot and told Gould to calm down, which only aggravated him more, the court heard.
Gould then screamed at cabin crew, ‘I’ll kill you – there are not enough people on the plane to restrain me’, before he slapped his wife and grabbed her by the hair.
When a panicked air hostess tried to intervene, Gould shouted at her: ‘Why are you talking to my wife, you are a s**g. You’re pretty’.
Ms Ettienne said Gould then stood up and put his arms around her and – while doing so – kissed a male flight attendant on the right cheek before nibbling on his ear.
The prosecutor said: ‘The defendant’s escalating behaviour was frightening and he became a serious safety issue.’
Manny Arora, defending previously, said his client suffers from PTSD and was ‘remorseful’.
He told the court: ‘He accepts he consumed some vodka. But when he entered the aircraft, he was not intoxicated.’
Gould, of Woking in Surrey, is formerly director of a business management consultancy firm called Blacklight Management, which he ran with his wife, according to Companies House documents.
He was handed a 14-month immediate custodial sentence for endangering an aircraft, with further simultaneous sentences of 14 weeks for sexual assault, 10 months for being drunk on an aircraft, and one month for two counts of beating.
