Lee Ryan has succesfully withdrawn his guilty plea for assaulting a police officer (Picture: PA)
Blue singer Lee Ryan has won his bid to withdraw a guilty plea for drunkenly assaulting a police officer.
The musician, 39, was convicted in January of being drunk on an aircraft and biting a police officer who arrested him after he hurled racially abusive language at a Black flight attendant.
Ryan 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, while pleading guilty to assaulting a police officer by biting him.
He has since appealed to overturn his initial guilty plea, claiming he had received bad advice from his solicitor Mike Rainford, and that he did not bite the officer.
In a court appearance on Tuesday, Keima Payton, representing Ryan, told a magistrate that her client suffered from autistic spectrum disorder and had ‘slow processing skills’ leading to ‘impairments in understanding what is said to him’, according to a psychological report.
She said that text messages sent by Ryan on the day of the hearing showed that he was made to feel like he ‘had to’ plead guilty by Mr Rainford, ‘even though he [PC Bryett, who he pled guilty to assaulting] grabbed my neck’.
The Blue star argued he had been given bad advice by his solicitor when he made his initial plea (Picture: GC Images
Ryan has now successfully appealed to overturn the plea, being told at Westminster Magistrates’ Court that it would be ‘unjust’ for him not to be allowed after he claimed he received bad advice.
He has denied assaulting the officer, and with his guilty plea formally vacated has elected for trial at crown court with date and location to be confirmed.
Payton said body-worn footage of the incident may have helped Ryan claim self-defence, however it had not been presented to him until shortly before his court appearance meaning he was unable to properly consider it.
He told the court on Tuesday that he had asked his solicitor ‘if there was more time because it felt so rushed, and he said there was no time.’
‘It had become very clear that he either didn’t care or just wasn’t prepared.’
Describing the moment he pleaded guilty, he said: ‘I couldn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth.
‘There was no conviction – it wasn’t true. I was being made to do it.’
The star is best-known for being a part of boyband Blue (Picture: Redferns)
A doctor’s report on the musician concluded Ryan has a number of impairments with communications, with Payton telling the court he ‘has difficulties understanding what is said to him and making himself understood, particularly in stressful situations.
‘Having a slow processing speed means it takes a long time to make sense of and respond to questions. A poor working memory takes the burden further. This applicant had ADHD and another neurological issue, autistic spectrum disorder.
‘He simply could not grasp things on the last occasion. Repetition is essential in communication with Mr Ryan.’
Ryan himself reflected on his initial court appearance where he claimed his solicitor told him ‘basically I have no defence… that I can’t run self defence and that I had no choice but to plead guilty.’
He was told at Westminster Magistrates Court it would e ‘unjust’ not to allow the plea to be withdrawn (Picture: GC Images)
He said the ‘whole situation was horrible.’
‘I couldn’t hear the words coming out of my mouth. It wasn’t a conviction, it wasn’t true. I didn’t bite a police officer, but I was being made to [plead] guilty when I didn’t do it.’
He claimed that the arresting officer PC Bryett ‘choked me, he tried to strangle me,’ and denied assaulting him.
The initial trial in January heard how Ryan told the Black female cabin crew member: ‘I want your chocolate children,’ and asked to kiss her while drunk on a British Airways flight from Glasgow to London in July 2022.
In court, Ryan stated: ‘I’m not racist’, saying that it was ‘drunk banter’ on the flight and there was no malice or intention to upset anyone.
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Ryan now denies assaulting the police officer.
