BA cabin worker cleared of sexually assaulting colleague after vodka-fuelled wild night out

NewsUK News A BRITISH Airways steward has been cleared of sexually assaulting his female colleague in Rio after staff had a vodka-fuelled wild night out. A jury of five men and seven women acquitted Ryan Lim, 31, of the offence on Thursday at Isleworth Crown Court. The alleged assault was reported to Brazilian police, resulting in two BA flights being cancelled Credit: Alamy BA cabin worker Ryan Lim, 31, has been cleared after denying sexually assaulting a colleague during a boozy stop-over in Rio de Janeiro Credit: Simon Jones He had been accused of pleasuring himself while rubbing the stewardess’s bottom as she slept in a hotel bed with him and another male on the morning of November 10, 2024 She claimed she was woken by Lim’s “sexual moaning” before seeing his hand moving up and down in a bedroom mirror. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The crew had gone on a drinking spree after arriving in Rio de Janeiro from London. The captain bought a bottle of vodka in a club around midnight, the court heard. Lim leaves Isleworth Crown Court in London Credit: Simon Jones The crew went on a drinking spree after arriving in Rio de Janeiro Credit: Pedro Costa Simeao At the nightclub, the victim said the BA captain bought a bottle of vodka and was handing out glasses of the spirit to his crew, including Lim and her. The male colleague whose room she would later sleep in began vomiting, and the alleged victim looked after him. She had drunk two glasses of vodka with a mixer at the club. The woman claimed she was about “five-out-of-ten” drunk. Most read in The Sun And she said that she does not recall how she ended up sleeping in her male colleague’s room. His Honour Judge Simon Davis presided over the trial, with Lily Hayes prosecuting and Sophia Kerridge defending. The alleged assault was reported to Brazilian police and the BA captain. Two BA flights were cancelled as a result. Kerridge, defending, said previously: “You woke up in a room with two boys, you were coming in and out of sleep when you noticed something that could be sexual activity. “At the time you were not sure what you had experienced was something more innocent. “I suggest to you it didn’t happen because you would have been in a rush to leave that room.”