A passenger has been cleared of molesting an air stewardess while drunk on a London-bound flight.
Artur Niewolik , 37, was accused of touching the attendant’s waist from behind and then whispering “nice legs” as she served drinks from her trolley on the Dublin to London Gatwick flight.
The incident happened when he got up to use the toilet at the start of the hour-long flight, before the fasten seat belt lights had been switched off, the court heard.
The arresting officer, former police constable Jonathan Cruise, told jurors at the Old Bailey that the defendant was “clearly drunk”.
Polish national Niewolik denied sexual assault, an alternative charge of assault by beating, and being drunk on the low-cost airline flight, during the afternoon of March 30 last year.
In his defence, he told jurors he was a married family man with a good character and had only touched the air stewardess because he wanted to get past her in the aisle.
The Old Bailey jury deliberated for half a day to find Niewolik, of Weavers Close, Isleworth, west London, not guilty of all charges.