A Pakistani-origin businessman based in London has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for threatening to rape and kill a Virgin Atlantic flight attendant during a first-class journey from London to Lahore in February 2023. The convicted offender, Salman Iftikhar, 37, was on his way to the United States with his wife and three children when the in-flight ordeal happened. Iftikhar swore at staff, threatened to kill them, and physically assaulted cabin crew after being requested to refrain from scooping ice directly from the in-flight bar.
The incident took place on February 7, 2023, aboard a Virgin Atlantic flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to Lahore, Pakistan. Prosecutors told Isleworth Crown Court that Iftikhar had been consuming champagne at the in-flight bar when he became aggressive towards cabin crew. When flight attendant Angie Walsh asked him to go back to his seat, Iftikhar reportedly yelled, “Don’t tell me what to do, you racist f—ing b–ch. I know where you are from in Cardiff.” He had accused the crew of calling him an insult and started recording them. At some point in the encounter, Iftikhar threatened Walsh, stating, “You will be dragged by your hair from your room and gang-raped and set on fire.”
Hotel Room Threats And Racial Abuse
The court was informed that Iftikhar astonishingly disclosed the specific room numbers at a hotel where the crew would be housed in Lahore. He also physically assaulted a male flight attendant, Tommy Merchant, in the course of the brawl. “The white sheep s–ting will be dead. The floor of your hotel will be blown up, and it will disappear,” Iftikhar allegedly declared in court. Though the danger was very real, Iftikhar was permitted to disembark from the plane when it complied with the emergency landing in Pakistan and wasn’t arrested straight away. He was arrested over one year later, on March 16, 2024, at his 2 million Pounds (USD 2.6 million) Buckinghamshire, UK, residence.
🇵🇰 DISGRACEFUL: Salman Iftikhar, 37, a Pakistani businessman, was jailed for 15 months after a vile, racist tirade on a Virgin Atlantic flight from London to Lahore.
🇵🇰 Flying first class with his wife and 3 kids, he lost it when stewardess Angie Walsh told him not to grab ice… pic.twitter.com/ESmEtL3MZy
— Rakesh Krishnan Simha (@ByRakeshSimha) August 7, 2025
Walsh, who has been a Virgin Atlantic crew member for 37 years, told the court in a victim impact statement that she was left traumatised and had to take 14 months of sick leave off work. “I am a happy, brave, and strong stewardess and I loved my job. I have flown into war zones and worked on 9/11. But this ordeal has destroyed me,” she said.
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Who Is Salman Iftikhar?
Abeer Rizvi Iftikhar, the director and founder of Staffing Match, a recruitment agency based in the UK which offers customer service and manufacturing training to companies, owns a luxury six-bedroom house in Iver in Buckinghamshire, and high-value cars such as Range Rover, Bentley, and Rolls-Royce. Iftikhar is married to Erum Salman, who manages the recruitment business with him, and Pakistani supermodel Abeer Rizvi, who resides in Pakistan and owns a beauty salon. Rizvi came to the defence of her husband following the verdict, stating “mental health issues” and calling for the public to show sympathy.