Cambridge uni refugee expert called BA flier ‘a jihadist’ and told him to ‘blow himself up’ in racist rant on plane

NewsUK News A LECTURER at Cambridge University branded a BA passenger “a jihadist” in a drunken racist rant at 30,000ft. Refugee expert Dr Adam Coutts told Hammad Aziz he should “go to Birmingham to blow yourself up”. Refugee expert Dr Adam Coutts told Hammad Aziz he should ‘go to Birmingham to blow yourself up’ Credit: humanmovement.cam.ac The Cambridge University boffin branded the BA passenger ‘a jihadist’ in a drunken racist rant at 30,000ft Credit: Alamy He lashed out at Mr Aziz’s Middle-Eastern heritage and said he and wife Fatima Hashim’s marriage was a sham. Coutts, 48, a doctor of philosophy, became “aggressive”, hitting a phone from Mr Aziz’s hand, when he “intervened” in a chat between Coutts and another passenger on the Cairo to Heathrow flight on July 15. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Married dad-of-two Coutts told him: “You should shave your beard. You look like a jihadist.” Mr Aziz said in a statement: “I feared for the safety of me and my wife. “He made several comments I felt were racist as we were both visibly Muslim.” Ruaa Kamaran, defending, told Uxbridge JPs that Coutts, who has advised the UN on migration, was being treated for mental health conditions. Coutts admitted racially aggravated harassment, assault, criminal damage and being drunk on a plane. Judge Mohammed Bashir gave him a 16-month suspended sentence, telling him: “This was a very marked departure from your previous good character.” Most read in The Sun Coutts must pay £2,204, including £700 in compensation. Cambridge University, which sources say does not directly employ Coutts on staff, was approached for comment. Comment now