Mother, 38, is spared jail for trying to commit sex act on male passenger on TUI flight after ditching her daughter, 7

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A mother drunkenly tried to seduce a man after downing duty-free vodka on a holiday flight – as her young daughter sat nearby, a court heard.

Louise Whyte, 38, was taking the seven-year-old on their first holiday abroad when she made advances to the fellow passenger.

Leaving her daughter sobbing in their original seats, she moved to the man’s row on the plane.

She then pulled down her trousers and underwear and offered to perform a sex act on him, the court was told.

Louise Whyte leaving Minshull Street crown court, Manchester, where she received a suspended sentence for sexually assaulting a man during a TUI flight to Turkey

The victim, who had been travelling with his 11-year-old son on the TUI flight from Manchester to Dalaman in Turkey, pushed her back into the seat and alerted staff by pressing a call bell.

Whyte and her daughter were put on the next flight back to the UK after the plane landed.

It emerged she became severely intoxicated after mixing the vodka with diazepam and codeine tablets which she had been taking for a knee injury, the court was told.

The victim, who cannot be named, was said to have suffered ‘a great deal of embarrassment’ and his holiday was spoiled by the assault.

Appearing at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court yesterday, Whyte admitted sexual assault. She was ordered to sign the sex offender register for seven years. She was also sentenced to six months’ jail suspended for a year and to abide by an 8pm to 6am curfew.

The court heard how before boarding the plane to Dalaman in Turkey, she took diazepam and codeine which she had been prescribed for pain-relief for an injury. Once onboard, she downed vodka 'unaware' of the effects the booze would have combined with the medication

The incident occurred on May 27 last year after Whyte booked the holiday with her daughter after splitting with her partner.

She began drinking in the airport terminal ahead of the 8pm flight and befriended the man when she saw him with his son, the court was told.

Charlotte Crangle, prosecuting, said: ‘She had lost her mobile phone in the customs area and he helped her to find it. He thought at that point that she appeared a little tipsy or under the influence of prescription drugs.

‘They then went to a cafe with both of their children and had one or two drinks.

‘Before boarding the plane itself she commented she didn’t buy any alcohol, but he told her she could have his duty-free vodka in his bag.

‘He kept it in his bag for the first part [of the journey] and she was initially seated a few rows in front of him. His son and her daughter had spoken to each other in the airport but once in the air and at cruising altitude he was aware of the defendant coming over towards his seat.

Whyte was taking her daughter on holiday alone for the first time when she befriended a man at Manchester Airport. Whyte was sat with her daughter a few rows in front of the man. Once in the air, she got out of her seat and went over to talk to him. She later offered to perform a sex act

‘She was talking to him and being over-friendly and somewhat loud.’

The man suggested his son go and keep Whyte’s daughter company, and Whyte then sat next to him and asked him for the vodka, Miss Crangle said.

She added: ‘He warned her not to and tried to tell her to calm down, and was warning her not to get so drunk when she had a daughter to look after.

‘He did keep trying to hide the vodka from her but when it was ultimately confiscated half to two thirds had gone.

‘[Whyte] did go to her daughter but was seen and heard to be shouting to her telling her to go to sleep using inappropriate language and swearing. The little girl was clearly upset.’

Miss Crangle said Whyte, of Bury, then made her advances and the man ‘had to tell her to stop several times’.

When spoken to by crew, Whyte ‘didn’t appear to know where she was staying or how to get there and the decision was taken to retain her and her daughter on board for journey back’, the barrister added.

Whyte from Bury, pleaded guilty to entering an aircraft when drunk and sexual assault on a male. She was sentenced to a six-month custodial term, suspended for 12 months, a six month curfew and 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days. She was also ordered to sign the sex offenders registers for seven years

The second flight arrived back in Manchester before 6am the next day and was met by police.

When interviewed by police, Whyte, a single mother after splitting from her daughter’s father 18 months earlier, said she had ‘one or two drinks in the terminal’ prior to boarding, then drank vodka from the man’s bottle – but could remember nothing else.

Defending, Peter Horgan said she was ‘embarrassed, ashamed and apologetic’.

He said: ‘She has never been in trouble before and has led a wholly law-abiding life.

‘She didn’t knowingly get herself into the state and describes her actions as disgusting and repellent.’

Sentencing, Judge Sophie McKone told Whyte: ‘Once you were on that plane you effectively became out of control.

‘So concerned were the crew and captain that as the plane landed they wouldn’t let you off the plane, quite rightly they didn’t think you would be able to care for your child.

‘You failed remarkably in your responsibility to your daughter.’