Shady past of Virgin Atlantic passenger who threatened to 'gang rape' stewardess
A yob who threatened to gang rape a Virgin Atlantic stewardess has had several brushes with the law, it has today emerged.
Salman Iftikhar was sentenced to 15 months in jail last week after admitting making threats to kill and racially aggravated harassment. The judge took into account Iftikhar's six previous convictions, including a common assault, a record she described as "lengthy and appalling". These six previous convictions have arisen from 15 offences over the years.
And now further details of these offences have come to light - days after Iftikhar, 37, began his time at HM Prison Brixton in south London. It is his first time behind bars despite his two counts of common assault in 2004, drink driving in 2008 and driving with excess alcohol that same year among other crimes.
In 2021, father-of-three Iftikhar was fined £3,000 after he was caught drunk behind the wheel. When pulled over, police also found him in possession of cannabis. Iftikhar, who was two times over the legal limit, subsequently pleaded guilty to drink driving, cannabis possession and failing to stop a vehicle when required to by a constable.
Neighbours in Iver, Buckinghamshire, this week said police had also been called to his six-bedroom home dozens of times in recent years. Iftikhar had lived there with one of his two wives - Erum Salman, who is the mother to his three children. She was described as a "nice lady" by neighbours, who branded Iftikhar "not very friendly" this week.
"There's been so many rowdy late night parties that have ended up in fights in the early hours of the morning. At one point it felt like the police were here almost every day," said one neighbour who also described Iftikhar as "often spaced out".
The father of three kept a range of expensive cars - from a Range Rover, Bentley and Rolls-Royce - on his driveway at the time of his arrest. He and his UK-based wife together the pair run a London-based staffing company which provides training to businesses working in customer service and manufacturing. Yet, according to those known to the Buckinghamshire couple, the pair had a "rocky marriage and would argue quite a bit".
Daily Mail reports Iftikhar diversified his skillset in recent years into "exposure to cryptocurrencies," a project likely to prove tricky to manage from his cell in jail. When he was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court, a judge described the episode as "a sustained incident" and felt she could only impose a custodial term.
Ben Walker-Nolan, defending, had said his client "had a long-standing drug and alcohol problem which he has not addressed for many years".
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