Thorbjorn Olesen Finally Gets His Day(s) In Court

You may or may not recall that late in the summer of 2019 (July 29) former Ryder Cupper Thorbjorn Olesen got himself in a heap of trouble on a flight back to the U.K. following the St. Jude tournament in Memphis.

Upon arrival at Heathrow in London, the Bobbies were waiting for Olesen and arrested him on suspicion of sexual assault, being drunk on board an aircraft and failing to comply with orders from the cabin crew on said flight.

He was suspended by the European Tour then later reinstated as COVID took a toll on many court cases causing long delays, including his.

Well, Thorbjorn finally appeared in a London court on Monday facing charges that he grabbed a woman’s breast(s), pushed a member of the cabin crew ad urinated on a first-class passenger’s seat on said flight.

Naturally, on the advice of his barrister, Olesen denied the charges as his trial began at Aldersgate House Nightingale Court.

Of course Olesen pulled the old “I have no memory of the incident” claiming he was drinking alcohol after taking sleeping pills.

Sarah White, a member of the British Airways cabin crew, said in a statement read in court that she tried to direct Olesen back to his seat after he went to the bathroom, where he had struggled to get out by pushing on a pull door.  Olesen allegedly pushed White with his right hand on her shoulder and said: “It’s all about you, isn’t it?”

“During the flight, Mr. Olesen assaulted me and failed to listen to my instructions,” she said. “Through my 27 years of service, I have never come across such bad behavior onboard a flight.”

The court was told how Olesen was eventually restrained, including help from fellow professional Ian Poulter, who was also on the flight.

In a statement, Poulter said Olesen was “in a good mood” and “very jovial” when he boarded the flight. He said he had taken some sleeping tablets but did not give any to Olesen.  “I was unaware of what happened,” Poulter said. “I assisted with bringing him back to his seat. He looked a little bit worse for wear and I just assumed he had too much to drink.”

On Tuesday, it was Olesen’s turn to take the stand.  Of course, it was all the “deny, deny, deny” tactic.

Olesen testified that would never “consciously” risk his career by committing a crime and has no memory of the flight after taking sleeping pills.  Olesen said he had not slept well for weeks, having played several big tournaments, including the Open, and planned to go straight to sleep on the plane.  He said he drank two beers, two glasses of red wine with a sushi platter meal on board a private jet, and one vodka and cranberry juice before boarding the British Airways flight to London.

He testified he took two melanin tablets, which he regularly uses to combat jet lag, along with two Ambien/Zolpidem pills put into his travel kit by his partner, Lauren Zafer, an accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers.  Olesen said he would “never” have taken the pills had he known they were prescription-only or that side-effects included “sleep walking” and “amnesia”.

Olesen claimed the last thing he could remember was:  “getting a glass of champagne and sitting down in my seat and I think I remember taking off.”

Olesen said he had no recollection of asking for a vodka and cranberry juice, drinking pink champagne from another passenger’s glass, or getting trapped in the toilet.

Questioned by prosecutor Max Hardy, Olesen denied he was “in a party mood” when he boarded the flight and said he had “definitely not” taken the pills with alcohol “for fun” but “wanted to try to sleep all the way to London. I wasn’t thinking about partying or anything,” he told the court.

The trial continued into Wednesday.