A Belfast woman who tried to open the door of a Ryanair aircraft while it was thousands of feet in the air was fined a total of £375.
Along with the fines District Judge Nigel Broderick ordered Jamie Duff to pay a £15 offenders levy but he lamented the fact that under The Air Navigation Order “all I can do is fine her.”
“For some reasons the legislatures have ordered that these offence only merit a financial penalty,” he told Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena. "In my view they should give the courts greater sentencing options because to impose a financial penalty on someone who gets up drunk and tries to open the door of an aircraft while in flight, that’s a significantly dangerous activity.”
“It causes concern not just to the crew but the other passengers and that should be dealt with by something more than just a financial penalty,” said Judge Broderick.
Duff, from Waveney Park in Belfast, had earlier entered guilty pleas to being drunk of an aircraft and smoking on an aircraft on 9 April this year.
A prosecuting lawyer told the court how the Ryanair flight was on its way back from Alicante when the crew asked to be met by police due to a disruptive passenger.
Duff, said the lawyer, was 'consuming her own alcohol and was also vaping on the flight', and it was during an exchange with the judge the court heard how Duff had tried to open the door when the plane was “goodness knows how many thousands of feet in the air.”
Arrested and interviewed Duff denied the offences but lodging a plea in mitigation, defence counsel Patrick Taylor said the 42-year-old “is extremely apologetic” for her actions.
He told the court that shortly before the flight left Spain former care assistant Duff had received the news that a patient she had cared for for an extended period had entered end of life care so she was in an emotional state.
"There is no excuse for her behaviour but she was emotionally upset,” said the barrister.
Imposing the fines and allowing Duff six months to pay, Judge Broderick told her “I take a very dim view of this activity” because there are too many people who have drink taken on planes.
Emphasising that an aircraft is a “confined space,” the judge said that if a passenger such as Duff is disruptive and drunk and tries to open the door midair, ”that causes the other passengers understandable concern.”
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