A drunk former Cambridge University tutor admitted launching a drunken, racially motivated tirade against a fellow passenger on a British Airways flight.
Dr Adam Coutts, a 48-year-old refugee specialist affiliated with the University, was handed a 16-month suspended sentence.
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The incident took place at 30,000 feet on a service from Cairo to Heathrow on July 15.
Coutts, a father of two who holds a doctorate in philosophy and has previously advised the United Nations on migration issues, targeted passenger Hammad Aziz with a string of Islamophobic abuse.
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He pleaded guilty to all charges when he appeared before magistrates at Uxbridge.
During the flight, Coutts became aggressive after Mr Aziz joined a conversation the academic was having with another passenger.
He struck a phone out of Mr Aziz’s hand and directed a series of racist remarks at him, targeting his Middle Eastern background, according to The Sun.
Coutts told Mr Aziz to “shave your beard” because he “looks like a jihadist,” and urged him to “go to Birmingham to blow yourself up,” the publication reports.
The married Doctor of Philosophy also disparaged the marriage between Mr Aziz and his wife, Fatima Hashim, calling it a sham.
Both Mr Aziz and Ms Hashim are Muslim.
In a statement, Mr Aziz said: “I feared for the safety of me and my wife.”
He added: “He made several comments I felt were racist as we were both visibly Muslim.”
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Coutts’s defence barrister, Ruaa Kamaran, informed the Uxbridge magistrates that her client was currently receiving treatment for mental health conditions.
Sentencing him, Judge Mohammed Bashir remarked: “This was a very marked departure from your previous good character.”
The judge acknowledged Coutts’s otherwise clean record but made clear the severity of his behaviour warranted the suspended custodial term.
Coutts entered guilty pleas to four offences: racially aggravated harassment, assault, criminal damage, and being intoxicated on an aircraft.
He was ordered to pay a total of £2,204, of which £700 was earmarked as compensation.
Sources told the Sun that Coutts is not directly employed by the university.
Although his name still appears on the university’s online listings and is described as a lecturer on the MPhil in Public Policy, sources confirmed he has not worked at the institution since 2022.
GB News has approached Cambridge University for comment.
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