A woman who downed two bottles of rosé wine “within minutes” on a flight and repeatedly shouted “we are all going to die” during turbulence behaved so badly she gave the passenger sitting in front of her a seizure, a court has heard.
Kiran Jagdev, 41, also continually kicked the seat of the hapless passenger in front.
Leicester Magistrates’ Court in the English Midlands heard that Jagdev drank about eight cans of beer during a three-hour delay on a Jet2 flight to England from Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, the BBC reported.
Once on the flight she rapidly drank two bottles of wine that she had bought duty-free, having been refused more alcohol by the cabin crew, who surmised, accurately, that she was already drunk.
The judge jailed Jagdev for six months for her drunken behaviour, saying he was imposing a deterrent sentence to demonstrate “there are consequences” to getting drunk on planes.
Just days earlier, Jagdev was convicted of assault in Tenerife, Spain, and handed a suspended sentence, the BBC noted.
When crew on the flight refused to serve Jagdev more alcohol, she erupted into a variety of drunken antics, including shouting, crying, swearing and repeatedly kicking the seat in front of her – causing the passenger sitting there to suffer a seizure.
Later, high winds gave the flight crew problems on approaching East Midlands Airport to land. Jagdev decided to liven up the atmosphere aboard by yelling “We are all going to die!” for 10 minutes as the plane circled, the court heard.
Jagdev was arrested soon after the flight landed and charged with being drunk on an aircraft.
Sentencing, Judge Philip Head said: “The effect on other passengers must have been dreadful. You are the author of your own and other people’s misfortunes.”
The case will provide ammunition for British airlines and others who are pressing for tighter alcohol restrictions at airports. As for Jagdev, she has six months in which to reflect on her behaviour.
Written by Peter Needham
.jpg){kind=tracking}
