Millionaire with two wives who threatened to gang rape and set alight Virgin stewardess has his jail term TRIPLED to four years after public outcry
An air-rage thug who threatened to gang rape and murder first-class cabin crew on a flight from London has had his jail term increased by three years.
Salman Iftikhar, 38, will now serve a four-year and three-month prison sentence, having originally been given just a 15-month term.
The wealthy recruitment consultant was drunk when he launched a vile tirade of abuse towards Virgin Atlantic staff on a flight from Heathrow to Lahore in his homeland of Pakistan.
Passengers aboard the flight watched in horror as the thug repeatedly called steward Angie Walsh a ‘f***ing b****’ at 39,000ft.
In August, the Daily Mail revealed Iftikhar has two wives. One of them is Pakistani model and actress Abeer Rizvi, who has more than 500,000 followers on TikTok.
He is also married to Erum Salman, 38, with whom he has three children. Erum has been listed as a director at a number of her husband’s companies.
The father-of-three – whose business went bust with £17million worth of debts – later threatened to blow-up the five-star hotel the cabin crew were set to stay in.
Iftikhar’s initial sentence sparked claims of ‘two-tier justice’ after Southport riots tweeter Lucy Connolly was jailed for 31 months.
But his prison term was significantly increased today after it was referred to the Court of Appeal for assessment under the Unduly Lenient Scheme.
Father-of-three Salman Iftikhar, 38, was flying in first class when he launched a vile tirade of abuse towards Virgin Atlantic staff on a flight from London Heathrow to Lahore
The wealthy recruitment boss made horrific death threats to an air stewardess on the flight
Iftikhar has two wives. One of them is Pakistani model and actress Abeer Rizvi, who has more than 500,000 followers on TikTok
Iftikhar is also married to Erum Salman (pictured), 38, with whom he has three children. Erum has been listed as a director at a number of her husband’s companies
Solicitor General Ellie Reeves said today: ‘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.
‘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.’
Isleworth Crown Court heard Iftikhar left Ms Walsh ‘broken’ and ‘traumatised’ having declared she would be dragged out of her hotel room and assaulted.
The businessman had been binging on champagne, and also tried to fight another steward.
In one clip of Iftikhar’s 100 rants during the trip, he can be heard repeatedly accusing Ms Walsh of being a racist and said: ‘You called me a p*ki in front of everybody.’
All this unfolded in front of Iftikhar’s wife and children who were crying and pleading for him to stop and had to be comforted by the cabin crew as he continued to hurl abuse for the entire flight.
Iftikhar keeps a range of expensive cars – including a Range Rover, Bentley and Rolls-Royce – on the driveway of his £2m mansion in Iver, Buckinghamshire
Iftikhar was later arrested at his detached home in Iver, Buckinghamshire, and admitted making threats to kill and racially aggravated harassment.
The Unduly Lenient Scheme allows anyone to ask for a Crown Court sentence to be reviewed by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO).
If officers consider the sentence unduly lenient, they can ask the Court of Appeal to review the sentence.
It is then up to judges to decide whether or not the original sentence was appropriate.
