Man who posed for ‘plane hijacker’ selfie urinated towards Scottish women

Benjamin Innes dropped his trousers and exposed himself at the shocked women in Edinburgh city centre after they refused him some of their takeaway.

Innes, who had been drinking for 17 hours, then proceeded to urinate in the direction of the women who were sitting down in a doorway during the filthy incident in November last year.

The disgusted women quickly moved away from the area and called in the police.

Seif Eldin Mustafa, left, with Aberdeen man Ben Innes .

The “severely intoxicated” health and safety exec was soon picked up by patrol officers and he spent two nights in a cell before appearing in court.

Innes, from Leeds, hit the headlines three years ago when he was a passenger on a hijacked EgyptAir flight in March 2016.

He was hailed a hero after cheekily posing for a photograph next to hijacker Seif al-Din Mustafa who was wearing a suicide vest.

The vest proved to be a fake and all the passengers were eventually rescued following a six hour standoff on the runway of Larnaca Airport in Cyprus.

Now the 29-year-old has pleaded guilty to flashing and peeing near to five women at the capital’s Fredrick Street last November when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last Monday.

Prosecutor Mark Keane said the women had all been out socialising together and had just left a nightclub when they encountered Innes at a chip shop in the city’s Rose Street at around 2.30am.

Mr Keane said: “One of the women noticed the accused and said he had a nice coat. The accused did not respond.

“They got their food and sat down in a doorway and the accused sat down beside them. He tried to take some food and was asked to leave.

“He stood up, undone his belt and exposed his penis and started to urinate.”

The horrified group of women then got up and moved away before calling in the police.

Solicitor Liam Kildare, defending, said his client had started drinking with stag do pals in Newcastle at 9am the previous day.

He said Innes had encountered the women after he became separated from his group in Edinburgh city centre and following his arrest had spent two nights in custody.

The brief added: “Clearly this was an unpleasant incident and the women should not have to put up with this kind of behaviour and Mr Innes accepts that.”

He added the health and safety manager is currently unemployed and “is very ashamed of his actions” that night.

Sheriff Peter McCormack ordered Innes to pay a £720 fine.

Innes pleaded guilty to exposing his penis in front of five women and did urinate towards them at Fredrick Street, Edinburgh, on November 18 last year.

Innes was among 62 people on board the EgyptAir flight when it was seized by a man who threatened to blow it up in March 2016.

He was hailed a hero after a snap of him cheekily posing for a photo with suspected bomber Seif al-Din Mustafa went viral.

The hijacker’s ‘suicide belt’ was later revealed to be a fake and all the jet’s passengers were rescued following a six-hour stand-off on the runway at Larnaca airport in Cyprus.

At the time, Innes said he posed for the pic to get a “close look” at the apparent explosives, adding: “I figured if his bomb was real I’d nothing to lose anyway.”