AN aircraft passenger had drunk so much vodka that she tried to grope another traveller and offered to perform a sex act on him.

Crew on the Tui airline flight to Dalaman in Turkey detained 38-year-old Louise Whyte after becoming concerned that she would not be able to look after her young daughter, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.

Whyte was prevented from leaving the the plane when it landed on May 21 last year and she was flown straight back to the UK.

But Judge Sophie McKone ruled that as the safety of the plane was not ultimately endangered, and she accepted Whyte may have been adversely affected by diazepam she had taken for a leg injury, she would not be immediately imprisoned.

Whyte, of Nuttalll Lane, Ramsbottom, who pleaded guilty before magistrates to entering an aircraft while drunk and indecent assault, and had been committed for crown court sentence, was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. She must observe a three-month curfew and attend 15 rehabilitation activity days with the probation service.

Charlotte Crangle, prosecuting, said Whyte and her seven-year-old daughter met up with a man and his 11-year-old son at customs.

The defendant had misplaced her mobile phone and he helped her to locate it before the two families went to a nearby café.

Miss Crangle said the man felt Whyte was either “tipsy” or taking prescription medication.

Once aboard, the court heard, Whyte became concerned that she had no alcohol for her holiday and the man, who was sat a few rows away, indicated she could have a bottle of vodka he had bought in the duty-free section.

But Miss Crangle said the man became concerned when she began to down the bottle, mixing it with cans of cola she had purchased on the flight.

The court heard the man suggested his son should go and sit with her daughter, to keep her company, which he did. Whyte went to sit with the man.

Later though, the man noticed that up to two-thirds of the 70cl bottle of vodka had been consumed, and he had only drunk one or two shots himself.

Other passengers became concerned as Whyte started shouting at the daughter, telling her to go to bed and swearing, the court was told.

The man approached the gallery and shared his concerns about Whyte with crew members, as Whyte became more incoherent and did not appear to be aware of her surroundings.

Miss Crangle said while he was talking to them Whyte tried to kiss him and made a grab for parts of his body.

She was eventually reseated and tried to grope the man again, offering to perform a sex act on him, the court heard.

The captain was eventually alerted and the crew decided, as they had grave concerns over Whyte’s abilities to look after her daughter in a foreign country, that she should remain on the plane.

Miss Crangle said Whyte calmed down on the flight back to the UK, where she was taken into police custody.

Peter Horgan, defending, said his client, who had no previous convictions, was “embarrassed, ashamed and apologetic” about her behaviour, particularly with regards to her daughter, the man, and fellow passengers.

He told the court she had little recollection of her conduct, after a point shortly into the flight, and could only think that the effects of taking diazepam, which she had been prescribed for a leg injury shortly before the holiday, had caused her to react in this way.

The judge said thought that she was conscious that the defendant was the primary carer for a young child who had already been through a very distressing episode.

Passing sentence, Judge McKone said the defendant had been “rude and crude” towards her fellow male passenger, who had been attempting to look after her, and spoiled the holidays of both him and his young son.

Whyte, who insisted she had also been concerned about taking her daughter abroad on holiday for the first time, must also sign the sex offenders register for seven years.