Stephen Bell, 46, screamed ‘f*** off monkey’ at air stewardess Sonia Nsode on his flight frim Miami to Heathrow in October (Picture: Getty)
A British Airways Passenger has been spared jail after he hurled racist and homophobic abuse on a flight Ed Sheeran was on.
Stephen Bell, 46, screamed ‘f*** off monkey’ at air stewardess Sonia Nsode on his flight frim Miami to Heathrow in October.
The builder, from Aberdeen, had been drinking heavily and made monkey noises and gestures.
He then called her colleague Phillippe Baffet ‘a gay c***’.
Ed Sheeran was seen snapping a selfie with a fan Dan Haughian before it took off.
Police officers were waiting at Heathrow when the plane landed to arrest the dad-of-three, The Sun reports.
Bell pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment, including one which was racially aggravated.
He also pleaded guilty to being drunk on an aircraft, The Sun reports.
Ed Sheeran was also on the flight (Picture: Simone Joyner/Getty Images)
Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court heard he drank cocktails and beers at a bar in Florida because he had ran out of medication for his anxiety.
He told a member of cabin crew he was ‘drunk but okay’ when he boarded the flight.
Prosecutor Niamh McDonagh said half hour after the flight took off, Bell began shouting loudly at the air stewardess.
Another passenger asked him to be quiet but he became abusive and started to shake the seat in front of him.
When cabin crew tried to calm him, he shouted: ‘What the f*** are you going to do about it?’
After Ms Nsonde came to assist, he told her: ‘F*** off monkey.’
The prosecution said Bell then ‘put his hands under his armpits and made monkey noises and gestures at her’.
He also called Mr Baffet a homophobic slur and a ‘gay c***’ before he was restrained by an off duty police officer and a member of cabin crew.
Ms Nsonde told the court the incident reduced her to tears and it was the first time she had been racially abused.
She added it made her feel ‘very vulnerable in the aircraft as there was no where to go’.
Mr Baffet said it caused hurtful memories of homophobic abuse to resurface and made him question whether he should keep doing the job he loves.
Bench chair Nigel Shock said the ‘particularly unpleasant’ offences were worthy of a jail sentence, but he was given a 16-week suspended sentence ordered to pay each victim £250.
He was also ordered to pay a £350 fine.
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