Salman Iftikhar, a British Pakistani Sex Offender, a deviant beast and recruitment manager, has been sentenced to ONLY 15 months in prison following a barrage of gang rape and death threats, accompanied by egregious racial insults directed at female cabin staff during an eight-hour flight.
Salman Iftikhar, a businessman of Pakistani descent residing in London, received a 15-month prison sentence for issuing death threats and directing racial insults at cabin crew members.
The incident occurred aboard a flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to Lahore, Pakistan, in February 2023.
While aboard the flight, Salman Iftikhar, a first-class passenger, menaced crew member Angie Walsh, asserting that she would be forcibly removed from her hotel room, subjected to gang rape, and subsequently incinerated.
A passenger documented one of his tirades, in which he incessantly charged Ms Walsh with racism, asserting that she referred to him using a pejorative phrase in the presence of others.
The issue commenced during the meal service on the eight-hour journey. Salman Iftikhar, 37, was consuming champagne at the in-flight bar when he extended his hand over the counter and manually gathered ice.
The flight crew challenged him, instructing him to return to his seat when he grew inebriated.
Salman Iftikhar exhibited hostility, alleging that the crew engaged in racism.
He yelled that she had insulted him in front of everyone. “You called me a p-ki in front of everybody,” he yelled.
The passenger then started filming the flight attendants and shouted at one of them, threatening her and refusing to follow instructions.
“Don’t tell me what to do, you racist f–king bitch. I know where you are from in Cardiff,” Salman Iftikhar screamed during the flight.
The flight deck was alerted to the situation and activated the seatbelt sign to calm Salman Iftikhar down.
Airline staff reported that Salman Iftikhar was slurring his words, becoming aggressive, and boasting about his identity.
His wife attempted to intervene by talking to the flight attendants at the food bar, but Salman Iftikhar pushed her away, demanding that she not speak to them.
Salman Iftikhar then physically confronted male flight attendant Tommy Merchant, grabbing him and telling him to shut up.
The situation worsened when Salman Iftikhar threatened the crew, revealing the exact hotel room numbers where they’d be staying at the Avari Lahore Hotel.
He grabbed one of the flight attendants, calling her a “f–king white Welsh c–t,” before threatening to rape her.
“The white sheep s–ting bitch will be dead. The floor of your hotel will be blown up, and it will disappear. You will be dragged by your hair from your room and gang-raped and set on fire,” he shouted.
Salman Iftikhar was allowed to leave the plane after landing in Pakistan without being arrested.
He was later arrested at his $1.2 million home in England on March 16, 2024, over a year after the incident. Salman Iftikhar admitted to making death threats and racial harassment against the flight attendant.
The attendant was left traumatised, requiring 14 months of leave from work to recover.
“I am a strong, brave, happy stewardess, and I loved my job. I am well known within the company. I have been flying with Virgin Atlantic for 37 years. I was working when all flights were grounded on 9/11, and I’ve even flown into a warzone.
But this incident has broken me. Never in my entire 37-year career of flying have I been certain what to do. I have had the best career in the world for 37 years. But he has taken that away from me,” she read in a victim impact statement.
Salman Iftikhar was acquitted of assault and threats to kill flight attendant Tommy Merchant.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he is the director and founder of the recruitment firm Staffing Match.
UPDATE 14.11.25
Salman Iftikha, the Iver rapist and sex offender, who menaced an air stewardess with rape and death on an international flight, had his sentence augmented following intervention by Law Officers.
Salman Iftikhar (38), from Iver, Buckinghamshire, had his sentence augmented by three years following a referral of his case by the Law Officers to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence system.
On 7 February 2023, the court was informed that Salman Iftikha was going with his family on a flight from London to Lahore, Pakistan.
Salman Iftikha was inebriated when a cabin crew member requested that he return to his seat after he handled ice with his hands.
Salman Iftikha directed his focus on the chief member of the cabin crew. He verbally assaulted the flight attendant with racist slurs and threatened her with rape and murder in her hotel room in Pakistan.
Salman Iftikha persisted in his diatribe during the eight-hour journey, verbally assaulting other cabin crew members and warning that the hotel they were residing in would be detonated.
The abuse was so severe that the cabin staff contemplated diverting the aircraft to Turkey.
In a personal statement, the victim expressed that she continues to feel ‘haunted and frightened’ by the threats made by Iftikhar and that she was compelled to take 14 months off work.
Salman Iftikha initially pleaded not guilty but changed his plea to guilty days before the trial commenced
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The Solicitor General, Rt Hon Ellie Reeves MP, stated: Salman Iftikhar issued egregious threats of rape and violence against an air stewardess performing her duties. His diatribe of hatred and abuse inflicted agony and anguish upon the entire flight, and our collective thoughts today ought to be with the cabin staff and passengers who endured Iftikhar’s reprehensible conduct.
Law Officers submitted Salman Iftikha’s sentencing to the Court of Appeal following several public petitions for case review. I hope this provides solace and a feeling of justice to those affected, and emphasises that our criminal justice system serves victims and vulnerable individuals.
On 1 August 2025, Salman Iftikhar was sentenced to 15 months at Isleworth Crown Court for one count of making threats to kill and one count of racially aggravated deliberate harassment.
On 11 November 2025, his sentence was extended to four years and three months subsequent to a recommendation under the Unduly Lenient Sentence system.
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