cor version: Drunk ass woman gropes male flight attendant and uses excuse during trial that she thought he was her bf.



A teacher who groped a male flight steward and demanded sex while drunk on a plane has avoided a jail sentence today.

Katherine Goldberg, from Ealing, west London, drank around a pint of whisky on board a Virgin Atlantic flight before apparently grabbing the cabin crew member's crotch.

In mitigation, Isleworth Crown Court was told that Goldberg, 25, was convinced that the man was her boyfriend as a result of her 'alcohol-induced illusion'.

South African-born Goldberg, who pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to sexual assault and being drunk on an aircraft, was on board a night flight from Johannesburg to Heathrow on August 24 at the time of the episode.

But a judge today said he did not want to impose a 'lifetime punishment' on the teacher, who had been working at her mother Debbie's Montessori nursery, St Michael's, Barnes, sw London.
She has been suspended since the sex assault and her lawyers claimed she was liable to be struck off if she was jailed or placed on the sex offenders' register.

The court heard Goldberg had downed 'at least 50 centilitres of whisky' when the incident took place.

Prosecutor James O'Connell said at first her behaviour on the flight was described by witnesses as 'very irritating' because she disturbed them while they were trying to rest.

She was eventually moved to the plane's galley where one member of the cabin crew 'took an interest in her care' and tried to calm her down.
Mr O'Connell went on: 'However, it was at this point that the defendant's annoying outbursts and antics changed and became rather sexual in nature.
'She sat on his lap and grabbed hold of his genitalia through his trousers.'

She also spoke to the man suggestively and kept 'making sexual offers to him', the court heard.

She was heard to tell the air steward: 'Let me and you go somewhere. You can touch me anywhere you want, I don't mind.'

'In her complete alcoholic funk she was confusing him with her current boyfriend, Clayton, and Owen, a previous boyfriend.
'She was somehow imagining this was her boyfriend with whom she was interacting.'

Goldberg eventually went to sleep for around an hour but then woke up and continued to be loud and disruptive, the court was told.
Eventually she slept again, and remained asleep until the plane landed at Heathrow and she was met by police.

Mr O'Connell said she was 'very co-operative' with the officers who questioned her, and admitted she had no recollection of events on board the plane but was very apologetic.
The total amount that she had drunk was not mentioned in court but it was believed she consumed her own alcohol that she had taken on board, rather than that supplied by cabin crew.
The air steward she sexually assaulted, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was said to have been unaffected by the incident.
In mitigation, Johnathan Goldberg QC, for the defence, who is not related to his client, said the case was a 'man bites dog situation'.

He added that it involved 'a very attractive young lady who acts totally out of character and commits a very minor offence'.

He told the court the defendant had shown genuine remorse over the incident and had been abstinent ever since.

He asked the judge not to give her a custodial sentence as it could jeopardise her career.

He told the court that Goldberg was returning from visiting her boyfriend and grandparents in South Africa after going there to celebrate the end of her teaching exams.

Passing sentence, Judge Andrew McDowall said it was clear that none of the other passengers had been in any danger during the flight and Goldberg did not have to be restrained at any stage.

Addressing her, he said: 'You have the misfortune to suffer from a problem with alcohol and, as has been made plain, it is a matter from which your mother unfortunately suffers from as well.

'You have now reached that vital stage of acknowledging that you have a problem and also showing a willingness to do something about it.'

He added: 'It is quite apparent that you are not a menace to children', and said he hoped she would be allowed to continue to teach despite the sexual assault conviction.
The court was told that Goldberg has since admitted to having an alcohol problem and now attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings five times a week.
She also went on a one-month residential course after realising she had hit 'rock bottom'.

Goldberg was fined £1,500, ordered to carry out an 11-month community order and 80 hours of unpaid work, and to pay £250 costs.

Goldberg, who had one previous conviction for drink-driving, sat in the dock wearing a brown blouse and black trousers and looked relieved as the sentence was passed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...l-sentence.html