A sentence has been passed in the case of a drunken foreign tourist, who was previously recorded by the British police. A man assaulted airport staff and head-butted a police officer before departing for a holiday in Tenerife. Shortly, the airlift will have to do community service.
According to the Daily Star, the incident occurred on May 18, 2022, at Leeds-Bradford Airport, when airport staff, following safety instructions, decided to deny an excessively drunk passenger a flight to the Spanish island of Tenerife. The team of the British low-cost carrier Jet2 witnessed how 45-year-old Robert Smith, after hearing that he was denied boarding, threw over a bar stool and resolutely headed for the exit. He then began aggressively protesting, while claiming to be sober, repeatedly crashing into several glass panels on his way to the plane.
The policemen had to restrain the Briton, who was rushing with all his strength to board the plane bound for the paradise island, with the help of handcuffs. However, one law enforcement officer got more than the others – a tourist headbutted him so hard that the latter had to be taken to a police van in a wheelchair.
Phil Ward, chief executive of Jet2, said of the incident: “Disruptive passenger behavior can lead to dire consequences, such as blacklisting and financial penalties, and, as this case demonstrates, severe legal action.”
Meanwhile, Sergeant Ann Haydock, of West Yorkshire Police, said disruptive behavior such as that of Smith “could pose a potential risk to the safety of the aircraft and cause the aircraft to veer off course, causing significant inconvenience and expense”.
During the court session, which took place on January 30, a sober British man admitted to assaulting several employees. In addition to an eight-month prison sentence suspended for a year, he was ordered to do 250 hours of community service and paid £120 compensation to each victim. There were three of them.