Female Ryanair passenger, 22, 'is sexually assaulted by man sitting next to her after passing out'

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 12:13 EDT, 3 September 2026 | Updated: 12:24 EDT, 3 September 2026 A man has been charged with sexual assault after a woman said she was groped while unconscious by a man sitting next to her on a Ryanair flight.The 22-year-old was flying from Malta to Nantes on July 19 when she said a 39-year-old Tunisian man sitting next to her allegedly sexually assaulted her after she fainted.The man was arrested on August 31 in Nantes Airport after disembarking from a flight from Tunisia and was charged before a judge on Wednesday.The woman, who was experiencing a headache, fainted not long after take off and fell forward onto the tray table, then onto the shoulder of one of the passengers.As she came to, she alleged that the passenger next to her sitting in the aisle had been kissing her neck.He continued to allegedly assault her by turning the woman to the window seat and pressing her back into his front while groping her breast under her T-shirt.The woman claimed she finally managed to pull away when he put his hands under her shorts and touched her underwear.Upon landing, she told her family of the alleged assault and subsequently alerted Border Police, according to French outlet Paris Match.A man has been charged with sexual assault after a woman said she was groped while unconscious by a man sitting next to her on a Ryanair flight'A vulnerable woman is seen as prey, even on an airplane,' the alleged victim's lawyer, Anne Bouillon, was reported to have said.The 22-year-old's clothes are being examined by the officers and she underwent an examination at the forensic medical unit at Nantes University Hospital.It was reported Ryanair was approached for details about the suspect - the Daily Mail have approached the airline for comment.The suspect, who is reported to be homeless, was then added to a wanted persons database which led to his arrest when he re-entered France through Nantes following his flight from Tunisia. The man appeared before a judge on Wednesday and was charged with sexually assaulting a vulnerable person. He reportedly 'confirmed that he was the passenger seated next to the victim', according to the public prosecutor of Nantes, Antoine Leroy, but denied the allegations. The 39-year-old will undergo a psychiatric evaluation and be tried on October 28.