A drunk air passenger spilled alcohol on a child and shouted homophobic abuse at members of the cabin crew, forcing the flight to divert and delaying people’s holidays by several hours.
Nervous flyer James Rae wreaked havoc on a TUI plane headed from Glasgow to Antalya, Turkey, on May 24 after downing gin and Jagermeister. The court heard how he and his partner at first were acting “loud and jolly” before take off.
Once in the air however, people nearby complained about their language and Rae’s partner moved away. When he drank his own alcohol from duty free it was taken away and crew members requested his passport, before he started hitting his head off the seat in front of him and later spilled alcohol on a little girl sitting nearby.
The pilot opted to divert to Newcastle, holding up people’s holidays by five hours. Rae told the court: "It was horrible and shameful and I'm absolutely embarrassed, I have no idea where it came from. I've ruined my life over something I can't even remember. It's horrible."
Prosecutor Antonia Adie told the court: “For a little while the defendant didn't understand why he was not allowed to drink his own alcohol. The cabin manager on the flight noticed the situation was not getting any better and the captain made the decision to divert the Newcastle due to the fact the defendant was drinking and was not able to follow lawful instructions.
"The defendant also had a small plastic bottle which had some alcohol which he ended up spilling over a little girl sitting in front of him. This then led to an argument with the children's parents and the defendant. The flight landed in Newcastle at around five to seven in the evening."
Fiona Lamb, defending, told the court Rae was "quite nervous about flying" and had eaten just chicken nachos before take-off. She said he has never been in trouble before and added: "He is absolutely adamant he has not drank since this incident."
Miss Lamb added Rae's memory of what happened on the flight is "extremely limited" and he is not homophobic. Newcastle Crown Court heard holidaymakers waiting to get the same plane home from Antalya were also delayed by 17 hours and the cost to the flight operator was "several hundred thousands pounds". Judge Stephen Earl today jailed Rae for eight months.
He told him: "The one thing that stands out in this case is deterrence, not only deterring you but to ensure other people understand if you get on an aircraft and you are drunk, this is the sort of sentence you can expect."
The judge added some may find it "odd" alcohol is sold in the airport and on flights and added: "It relies on people to be grown up about it, not sit with 15 pints for four people but that's what some people do.
"Of course, lots of people don't do that, lots of people treat it as a responsible, grown up situation. Just because it is available doesn't mean it's compulsory to drink as much as you can before the flight."