Blue singer Lee Ryan has had a charge against him dropped over a claim he assaulted a police officer after boarding a flight drunk.
Appearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, Ryan was told the Crown Prosecution Service had dropped the charge of assault by biting after the boyband member successfully withdrew a guilty plea to the offence last month following what he claimed was “poor advice from his solicitor”.
Standing in the dock dressed in a blue suit and patterned tie, Ryan, 40, spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth.
The court heard he had boarded a British Airways flight from Glasgow to London City Airport on July 31 last year after drinking a bottle of port.
After being refused more alcohol on the plane and told to return to his seat, Ryan made comments about attendant Leah Gordon’s looks, calling her “my chocolate cookie”, before saying she could have their “chocolate children” and grabbing her wrists.
He was found guilty at Ealing Magistrates’ Court in January of racially aggravated common assault by beating and behaving in an abusive way towards the cabin crew member.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to being drunk on an aircraft.
Speaking to the court on Wednesday, district judge Tan Ikram said: “The drunkenness is as serious as the charges he has been found guilty of.”
He told Ryan’s defence lawyer Keima Payton: “The aircraft member formed the view that your client was drunk.”
The judge said this provided the backdrop for the offences, with all three charges “intertwined”.
Ryan will be sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court on a date to be confirmed.
