A major airline flight had to return to its origin after a teenage girl was sexually assaulted during the journey. In a case at Ennis Circuit Court, Patrick Noone, a 58-year-old farmer, admitted to two counts of sexual assault on a 16-year-old girl on an Aer Lingus flight to Boston. The incident occurred on November 15th, 2023, prompting the plane to reverse course back to Shannon airport.
Noone confessed to touching the girl inappropriately, including rubbing and grabbing her buttocks, as well as kissing her arm and rubbing her thigh during the flight. Despite having no prior convictions, his lawyer, Antoinette Simon BL, requested a Probation Report for sentencing insights.
The court also directed the police to obtain a victim impact statement from the complainant in the case. Noone’s identity had not been disclosed previously, and the judge saw no reason for reporting restrictions. The state’s counsel revealed that Noone had offered a guilty plea over two weeks ago, facilitating the trial’s preparation for US-based witnesses to testify via video link.
The victim, now 18 years old, was studying in a US college at the time of the assault, with her grandmother and two other witnesses also based in the US. The case was escalated to the circuit court for more severe penalties, with the costs of rerouting the flight amounting to €28,213. Detective Garda Ruth O’Sullivan detailed the assault, which led to the decision to return the flight to Shannon promptly for investigations before the passengers continued their journey to the US.
