A racist who made a Nazi salute on a Liverpool-bound flight in front of a Holocaust victim’s family walked free from court.
Louis Mann launched into a horrific tirade of racist and religious abuse on the plane, which had arrived at John Lennon Airport from Poland.
The vile rant was filmed by the family member of Holocaust victims, who said he was left “shaken”, “shocked” and “disgusted”.
The 28-year-old had been a medical student studying in Poland, and says he was groomed by far right extremists, but continued to spout his racist views – even in a report prepared ahead of his appearance at Liverpool Crown Court.
Zillah Williams, prosecuting, said: “The defendant was a passenger on a Wizz Air flight from Poland, Warsaw, to Liverpool on October 19, 2019.
“The flight arrived at Liverpool John Lennon Airport at 5.37pm.”
Ms Williams said: “The flight was full and passengers reported during the flight Mr Mann had had to be repeatedly asked to sit down, to fasten his seatbelt and to refrain from making rude and offensive gestures.”
Ms Williams clarified that the offence for which Mann was charged took place when the flight had landed in Liverpool.
She explained Mann “got out of his seat before permitted to do so” when the seatbelt sign was still on and despite being repeatedly told to sit down by the crew began a “tirade of racial and religious abuse by words and gestures”.
Ms Williams said: “He was standing in the aisle of the flight making a Nazi salute and was shouting ‘Anglo-Saxon race, we are superior’.”
Mann had said: “‘Know your place, don’t answer back, you’re a Slavic race traitor n***** lover.'”
He also used a derogatory word used by the Nazis ‘inferior people’.
Mann was shouting abuse to “Jewish n***** lovers”, Ms Williams explained.
She said: “Mr Tych, a Polish national, was recording him. He was particularly upset, he lost family members during the Holocaust. He was extremely shaken by it.
“He was talking about people being inferior and was being derogatory to Jewish and Black people.
Wlodzimier Tych wrote in a victim impact statement: “Prior to this I have always felt very welcome in this country.
“I have lived in this country for 31 years, I have never experienced this sort of behaviour.
“I am of Jewish origin, this made me feel very shaken and upset, I also felt angry, disgusted and upset as he continued his behaviour regardless of other people’s feelings.”
Ms Williams explained that police boarded the plane at Liverpool and “heard the abuse that was still going on during his arrest”.
The rant continued even when Mann had been transported to the custody suite, telling one constable “You’re alright, you’re Aryan.”
Ms Williams said Mann was “clearly drunk”, which a medical examination confirmed, and was deemed unfit for an interview “for reasons to do with his mental health”.
He has no previous convictions, the court heard.
David Traynor, defending, said the behaviour was “disgraceful” adding “no one should have to observe it”.
He explained Mann was a medical student in Poland and in the weeks leading up to the incident his family “noticed a deterioration” in his mental health.
Mr Traynor explained his “isolation in Poland” and stress from his course “contributed to a deterioration in his mental health”.
He said: “He had a fixed view that he had meningitis, which seems to have started by rumours in medical school”.
Mr Traynor explained that leading up to the racist hate-speech Mann’s “intake of alcohol increased drastically”.
Citing a report Mr Traynor said there were “links” between his illness and his behaviour and at the time was likely suffering from a “psychotic illness”.
Mr Traynor said Mann had told him when he was in Poland he had been groomed by far right extremist groups which is “where those views come from” and said “that’s where he got the terminology from”.
He told the court that a medical report stated immediate custody would “cause Mann’s mental health to deteriorate” and it would be likely he would self harm if sent to jail.
Mr Traynor explained he lives at his parent’s address and would be able to work with the relevant services in a stable environment if spared jail.
He said: “Mr Mann has been unwell and remains unwell. The public would be best served by him being managed appropriately to ensure incidents like this don’t happen in the future.”
Mr Traynor also referred to a pre sentence report which said Mann has “ongoing mental health” problems with a diagnosis of Autism.
Mann, of Euston Grove, Morecambe, admitted being drunk on the plane but after denying racially aggravated harassment that charge was ordered to lie on file.
The court heard that the charge of Mann being drunk on a plane encapsulated the racial harassment and the judge increased the sentence to reflect the racial element.
Judge Anil Murray, sentencing, labelled it “disgraceful conduct on your part”.
The judge said: “You got on a plane at Warsaw, bound for Liverpool Airport, you were drunk. You had had some warnings when the plane was in the air.
“You got out of your seat and shouted vile racist abuse including Nazi salutes which seriously affected other passengers including someone who had lost family in the Holocaust.
“I can only imagine the effect of your behaviour on him.
“It seems you have entrenched racist views.”
Far-Right Criminals 