Blue singer Lee Ryan faces the possibility of being jailed after losing a High Court challenge over his conviction for racially aggravated assault while onboard a British Airways flight.20:31, 14 Jul 2026Blue's Lee Ryan has lost a challenge over his conviction for a racially aggravated assault on an aircraft. The musician, 43, was "slurring his words and staggering around" after drinking a bottle of port before boarding a British Airways flight from Glasgow to London City Airport in July 2022.Ryan was refused more alcohol on board the flight and was told to return to his seat. He made comments about cabin crew member Leah Gordan's looks and called her a "chocolate cookie" before he grabbed her wrists.The All Rise singer was convicted of racially aggravated assault and behaving in an abusive way towards a cabin crew member and was handed a 12-month suspended prison sentence at Isleworth Crown Court in September 2023.Ryan brought a bid to appeal against his convictions at the Crown Court, which was partially dismissed. A Crown Court judge later refused to send the case to the High Court, finding the application was frivolous.Ryan brought a separate legal challenge at the High Court over this decision, but in a ruling on Tuesday, two judges dismissed his bid. In the ruling, Lord Justice Holgate and Mr Justice Johnson said Ryan had been allowed to have his appeal against his convictions heard in November 2023, with his sentence "rescinded" at this time.They added that in November 2024, a judge and two magistrates granted Ryan's appeal over the conviction for threatening a member of the aircraft crew, but dismissed the appeal over the assault conviction.The judge and two magistrates said there had been an inconsistency in Ryan's evidence about whether he had grabbed or only touched Ms Gordon's wrists, with the singer saying he had been misled by the police.Lawyers for Ryan said the Crown Court judge who refused to send the case to the High Court wrongly drew an adverse inference from Ryan's police interview.But Lord Justice Holgate and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed the legal challenge. They said: "The central task for the Crown Court was to assess the reliability and credibility of the competing accounts given by Ms Gordon and Mr Ryan."In doing so, it was entitled to rely on the inconsistency between Mr Ryan's account in interview, which coincided with Ms Gordon's allegation that he had grabbed her wrists, and the account he gave in evidence."The essential reasoning of the court was that it believed Ms Gordon, who had been sober at the time and who was a consistent and compelling witness, and they disbelieved Mr Ryan, who had been drunk at the time and had been inconsistent."They added: "That was sufficient for the court to dismiss the appeal." The judges concluded there was "no error" in the Crown Court judge's decision not to send the case to the High Court, adding Ryan will now return to court for sentencing.He previously avoided a jail sentence for racially aggravated common assault by beating, which carries the maximum sentence of seven years. Ryan now could face the possibility of jail time after his case was sent back to the Crown Court.The court previously heard how Ryan told Ms Gordon she was "beautiful" before grabbing her wrists and making comments about her "complexion". She said: "It felt like he was saying I was beautiful for a black person because of the way he was describing my colour."Article continues belowRyan previously said he had no recollection of the flight and said his actions were "playful" and denied being racist. He said: "I'm sorry. My band member is black, I'm not racist, I've had black girlfriends, mixed-race girlfriends. It was banter, just drunk banter, I suppose; there was no malice or intention to upset anyone."Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.