Blue singer Lee Ryan is set to be sentenced for a racially aggravated assault on an air steward, after losing an appeal to clear his name.
The boyband member appeared in front of a court, accused of telling a member of the British Airways cabin crew that she was like a “sweet chocolate chip cookie”. The incident took place in July 2022, with him admitting that he was drunk on the flight.
The following year saw him convicted of racially aggravated assault. At first, Ryan was given a 12-month suspended sentence in 2023, however, this was later revoked as the singer made a bid to overturn his conviction.
The appeal to clear his name was rejected by the judge, and Ryan later took the case to the High Court – objecting to the crown court’s refusal to allow an appeal to High Court judges. The move was called “frivolous” and rejected by Lord Justice Holgate and Mr Justice Johnson, and the case was sent back to the crown court.
The flight in 2022 was on July 31 and saw the singer travel from Glasgow to London. During the journey, the admittedly-drunk Ryan allegedly physically touched the steward after she told him to return to his seat, and also made the inappropriate “chocolate chip cookie” comments.
Blue singer Lee Ryan loses plane assault appeal https://t.co/wAR7GfBG6Y pic.twitter.com/458Us4eevu
— BBC London (@BBCLondonNews) July 14, 2026
The steward alleges that “he grabbed both her wrists [and] leaned in as if to kiss her”, but at an appeal at Isleworth Crown Court in 2024, Ryan denied the claims of grabbing her wrists (via The Independent).
He instead argued that he was “touching her wrists with an open palm and said that was by way of an apology” after realising the comments were inappropriate and unwanted.
This, judges said, was “different from the account that he gave in the interview” with police after his arrest, and they added that it was “common ground that he reached out his hands and physically touched her”.
Ryan initially said he did grab the steward’s wrists, but later denied the claims and alleged that he had been “misled” by the police (via BBC News).
The singer’s lawyers have argued that the Crown Court judge who declined to refer the case had drawn an inaccurate inference from his police interview, however two judges argued against this claim – saying that it was their duty to weigh the picture painted by the steward compared to that from Ryan.
“It was entitled to rely on the inconsistency between Mr Ryan’s account in the interview, which coincided with [the steward’s] allegation that he had grabbed her wrists, and the account he gave in evidence,” they shared (as per BBC News).
“The essential reasoning of the court was that it believed [the plaintiff], who had been sober at the time and who was a consistent and compelling witness, and they disbelieved Mr Ryan who had been drunk at the time and had been inconsistent.”
Ryan is now set to be sentenced by the crown court.
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