A passenger who sexually assaulted a Ryanair cabin crew member during a flight has been given a suspended sentence.The woman told the court in her victim impact statement that she was “sexually assaulted in a tight and confined space” where colleagues were also present.She said her sense of safety and peace has been “completely shattered”. “I was only doing my job when this happened,” she said.The woman said she felt there was a “layer of shame” over her and “still feels disgusting”. She said she fell in love with flying when she joined Ryanair, but has since resigned.“The road to recovery feels long and unreachable,” she said, adding she was taking one day at a time. “Life hasn’t been the kindest to me, and what happened is an extra heavy load,” she said.Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard at a previous sentence hearing that the incident occurred while the flight was in the air, about 40 minutes before it was due to land in Dublin. Aaron Brady (31) of Main Street, Killeshandra, Co Cavan pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the woman on an inbound flight to Dublin Airport.The court was told Brady has no memory of the incident and has a problem with drink, which he is addressing. He brought €5,000 to court as a token of remorse on a previous occasion and on Friday handed over €3,130 to cover the woman’s out-of-pocket expenses.Judge Jonathan Dunphy commended the woman for the manner in which she had dealt with this “terrible ordeal” and noted her victim impact statement spoke to the significant emotional, psychological and economic consequences for her.He said this was a sexual assault of the woman in her workplace which had violated her personal space. He noted the incident had required the involvement of the captain mid-flight and the gardaí on landing. He said the accused had shown no regard for the woman, her colleagues or other passengers. Dunphy noted Brady had apologised at the previous hearing and acknowledged his significant drinking problem, which he said had reached rock-bottom at the time of the offending. He noted Brady also struggled with depression. The judge said Brady accepted full responsibility, displayed deep shame and insight into his offending. He is working consistently and has removed alcohol from his life, Dunphy noted.Taking into account the mitigating and personal circumstances, the judge imposed a two-year sentence. He said Brady’s decision-making was clearly impaired by the extreme amount of alcohol he had consumed, but this did not lessen the severity of what took place.He said in order to incentivise further rehabilitation, a custodial sentence was not warranted at this point. He suspended the sentence in full for three years on strict conditions. These include that Brady be under the supervision of the probation service, undertake offence-focused work, engage with addiction supports and attend a residential alcohol treatment programme. He also ordered the money brought to court be paid over to the woman.Brady took the stand at an earlier hearing and told the court he drank around five bottles of wine with his partner at the airport before boarding the flight, and potentially between 12 and 15 mini-bottles of alcohol during the flight. He said he has not had a drink in a year. Brady said he was “really, really sorry, sincerely” and said his offending was “out of character”.The court heard the woman also faced financial losses of more than €3,000 due to the incident, including sick leave, voluntary absences and her resignation.Keith Spencer BL, defending, said the amount of drink taken by Brady before boarding and on the flight was “almost mind-boggling”. He said his client deeply regretted what happened, did not intend for it to occur and was ashamed and apologetic.Gda Sinead Murphy told Tessa White BL, prosecuting, that when gardaí boarded the flight after being alerted to a disruptive passenger on board, they met Brady, who was intoxicated and causing distress to other passengers.Gda Murphy said when a witness statement was taken from the woman, she outlined that Brady had sexually assaulted her.The woman said she was taking a break in the crew area of the aircraft’s back galley.Brady came in and started chatting to the woman and two of her colleagues. He showed them his foot, then put it on the woman’s lap. She pushed it away.She realised Brady was drunk and noticed he was slurring his words and had drink stains on his trousers. Brady then felt the inside of her left leg with his hand over clothing, grabbed her head and kissed her cheek.She moved her head, then he grabbed it and moved it towards his groin. Her head touched off his groin. The woman said she was in shock. She described Brady starting to remove his top during the incident, before going into the toilet.When he came out, he hugged her, then placed his hand on her outer thigh, rubbing it and her buttocks over her clothing. The woman pushed him away and made her way to the front of the cabin, where the captain was alerted, then made the report to authorities on the ground of a disruptive passenger. In her victim impact statement read to the court by Gda Murphy, the woman described experiencing intense panic, anxiety and nightmares.She said she was on a waiting list to see a psychologist as she knew she needed professional support. “I hope no one else has to go through what I did”, she said, adding her life has changed entirely and that she will have to carry this every day.