1 week Ago
A woman woke up on a plane mid air to find she was being sexually assaulted by the man sitting next to her, a court heard. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she tried to shove the man - whom she had never met before - off her before reporting the assault to cabin crew. Momade Jussab, 66, originally from Mozambique, was arrested when the flight landed at Gatwick Airport.
He told police the woman in her twenties was "asking for it" when he sexually assaulted her under her clothing. "Men are dogs, I lost control, I accept it," he told police. The woman told cabin crew Mr Jussab assaulted her after she fell asleep watching the film Grease, a court heard.
The woman told cabin crew she had to force him off her with both hands. In a recorded interview, the woman told police: "I'm not sure what woke me up, I was so tired." She said she "told him to stop", adding: "He said: 'No, please' and he was trying to continue.
" The woman said she had never met Mr Jussab and did not know his name when they were sat next to each other on the flight from Doha, Qatar to Gatwick. Qatar Airways crew contacted police and Mr Jussab was kept onboard the flight and arrested after landing. Through a Portuguese translator, Mr Jussab, now aged 66, of Feltham, Hounslow told police the young woman was making up the allegations against him.
He said: "I lost it I’m a man, I just lost my mind. "I am a man, she was asking for it." He told police the young woman had provoked him and lied to get him into trouble.
"She took advantage of me – leading me into a trap," he told police. Jonathan Atkinson for the Crown told a jury in Brighton he was interviewed and admitted touching the woman. "He said he didn’t think she was asleep", Mr Atkinson said.
Mr Jussab said he did not know what was happening until he was arrested at Gatwick. The woman told police she initially thought the man was being friendly and acting like a grandad when he offered to tuck her in. Jonathan Atkinson said: "He was a complete stranger to her.
"There was brief, initial conversation about how cold it was on board and where they were going. "Chit chat between two strangers meeting on a plane. "She thought he was polite and friendly.
"She was cold and was intending to sleep through the overnight flight. "She got another blanket. "As she pulled it round to try and tuck herself in, she describes him trying to help her pull the blanket round her.
"She told police she thought this was slightly odd but thought he was being helpful. "He was a stranger but she thought he was like a grandad being nice." Mr Atkinson said the woman was the victim of an opportunistic sexual assault, taking advantage of her when she was asleep.
"Put simply, we say this defendant sexually assaulted a young woman on board an aircraft, whilst she was asleep," he said. "We say he took advantage of the complainant, a complete stranger, subjecting her to a frightening and distressing experience for his own sexual gratification." Momade Jussab, 66, denies assault by penetration and two sexual assaults on board the overnight flight last year.
The trial at Lewes Crown Court in Brighton continues..
