Passenger accused of trying to rape woman on Easyjet flight to Edinburgh

A woman was left “hysterical” after being sexually assaulted by a fellow passenger on board a flight from Naples to Edinburgh, a trial has heard.

The woman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – told a jury she was attacked by Nicola Cristiano, 45, on an Easyjet plane in May 2025.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard Cristiano sat beside her a short time before assaulting her after the flight took off in Italy.

She said that she drank some wine that Cristiano had offered to her. It is alleged Cristiano then tried to get her to touch his genitals and force her to perform a sex act on him.

She said she repeatedly moved away, said no and told the accused that she had a husband but this didn’t cause him to stop.

The woman told prosecutor Kath Harper KC that Cristiano then signalled her to go to the toilet with him.

After he entered the cubicle, she took the opportunity to tell the cabin crew what had happened.

‘Stunned’

The woman was sitting in a window seat reading a book on the flight from Naples on May 13 with two empty seats beside her.

She said Cristiano sat beside her and they communicated with each other by pointing to things because he only spoke Italian.

“I think I ordered some wine from the stewardess and I made a funny face because it wasn’t a very good wine,” she told the court.

She said the accused took some wine from his bag in the overhead locker and gave her some.

“I said thank you and accepted it,” the woman said.

The court heard that the accused then asked the woman if she could sit in her window seat. She said that she agreed to do that and that she learned he was from Naples.

Jurors heard the woman say that she sat beside him and Cristiano put his hand onto her leg and she was a “bit stunned”.

Speaking about what happened next, she said: “He was just very persistent. He tried to kiss me on my mouth.”

The court heard the accused then unbuttoned his trousers, touched the woman’s breast and grabbed her head.

She said: “I was pulling away.”

She added: “I think at one point I told him my husband was sitting at the front to make him think I had somebody to make him stop but it didn’t make a difference.

“I had a plan – that when the cabin crew came past I would ask to move seats but nobody came past during the incident.”

She said that he gestured for her to go to the toilet with him.

She added: “He wanted me to go first. I told him he could go first.”

She said the accused went into the toilet and she notified staff.

The court heard that police in Scotland were contacted.

Cristiano was “escorted” off the plane in Edinburgh.

Cristiano is accused of sexually assaulting the woman and attempting to rape her.

He denies the charges and has lodged a special defence of consent.

The trial, before judge Alison Stirling, continues.