Millionaire who threatened to gang rape air hostess has jail term tripled

The Virgin Atlantic passenger who threatened to ‘gang rape and set alight’ an air hostess has had his sentence extended by three years.

Salman Iftikhar, 38, from Iver, Buckinghamshire, was originally given a 15-month sentence for one count of threats to kill and one count of racially aggravated intentional harassment.

He was intoxicated on a flight from London to Lahore, Pakistan, when he was asked to return to his seat by a cabin crew member after he picked up ice with his hands.

Instead of politely following the request, Salman targeted the lead member of the cabin crew, swearing at and racially abusing her before threatening that she would be raped and killed in her hotel room.

The abusive rant continued throughout the eight-hour flight, where he also abused other crew members on the flight, threatening that their hotel would be blown up.

The situation was so serious, a diversion to Turkey was considered.

In a personal statement, the victim said she remains ‘haunted and traumatised’ by the threats made against her and she had to take 14 months off work afterwards.

Salman’s increased sentence comes after his case was referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme.

Now his sentence was increased from 15 months to four years and three months.

After his original sentence in August 2025, there was a public outcry about its length.

The Conservatives said that Salman should not have received a shorter sentence than Lucy Connolly, a woman jailed for 31 months after stirring racial hatred against asylum seekers in the wake of the Southport killings.

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, wrote to Attorney General, Lord Hermer, pointing out Salman’s previous convictions.

In the letter, he said: ‘Connolly made a wrong and distasteful social media post which she then deleted, but Iftikhar made over 100 sickening threats, including of gang rape, directly to Ms Walsh personally, face to face, and to other members of the cabin crew’s faces and has multiple previous convictions.’

Mr Philp also said that if Salman’s sentence was not reconsidered, it would be ‘yet another example of two-tier justice under this government.’

The solicitor general Rt Hon Ellie Reeves MP said: ‘Salman Iftikhar made horrific threats of rape and violence against an air steward who was simply doing her job.

‘His tirade of hate and abuse caused distress and anguish for the whole flight, and all of our thoughts today should be with the cabin crew and passengers who suffered from Iftikhar’s vile behaviour.

‘Law Officers referred Iftikhar’s sentence to the Court of Appeal after several requests to review the case from members of the public.

‘I hope this brings comfort and a sense of justice to those impacted, and underlines that our criminal justice system works for victims and vulnerable people.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.