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A 45-year-old Italian man, Nicola Cristiano, has been sentenced to six years in prison for attempting to rape a woman on an EasyJet flight from Naples to Edinburgh on May 13, 2025.
During the late-evening flight, the father-of-two moved seats to sit next to the victim, who was traveling alone. He repeatedly grabbed her hand and neck to force her to touch his exposed crotch, with semen later found on her cheek and lip. He also tried to kiss her and touch her breast and body.
After he moved elsewhere on the plane, the woman alerted cabin crew, leading to his arrest upon landing at Edinburgh Airport.
Cristiano was convicted of attempted rape following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh last month.
At sentencing on Friday, Judge Alison Stirling referenced the victim's impact statement, telling Cristiano: “The complainer says the assault has left a lasting effect on her sense of safety and control.
“She doesn’t feel comfortable flying and travelling alone any more.
“She had planned another holiday this year but she doesn’t want to go on it any more.”
The judge added: “The fact that it happened in a public setting surrounded by other people, even though she felt completely alone at the time, has been especially damaging for her.
“She thinks this will always have a lasting effect on her.”
Stirling noted from a criminal justice social work report that Cristiano had not accepted the guilty verdict, stating: “Custody is the only appropriate sentence with regard to the serious nature of the offending.
“The reasons for the sentence include punishment, expressing society’s concerns about and disapproval of your offending, protection of the public, and rehabilitation in custody.”
She ordered his deportation to Italy after serving the sentence and imposed indefinite notification requirements.
Cristiano, dressed in a black and gold bomber jacket and blue jeans, showed no reaction as he followed proceedings via an Italian interpreter.
Defense lawyer Jim Stephenson said his client accepted the victim “did say ‘no’ on a number of occasions, and (that) he did take her hand and place it on his penis,” but maintained innocence on the most serious parts of the charge.
Following the conviction, Detective Chief Inspector Steph Garnett of Police Scotland’s public protection unit said:
“Cristiano will now face the consequences of his despicable actions and I hope this brings comfort to his victim.
“He deliberately approached a woman travelling alone on a flight and sexually assaulted her.
“Fortunately she had an opportunity to alert a member of the cabin crew and she was taken to another part of the plane where she was safe.
“I also hope this conviction gives confidence to anyone who is the victim of sexual crime to come forward.”