Cork man fined £2,224 for drunken abuse of British Airways crew at Heathrow
Emmet Moynihan, 31, pleaded guilty at Uxbridge Magistrates Court to abusing cabin crew and lunging at passengers filming him. The incident drew over six million views online.
Cork man fined over drunken altercation with British Airways crew at Heathrow
A 31-year-old man from Cork has been fined more than £2,000 after verbally abusing British Airways cabin crew on a flight out of Heathrow, the Irish Times reports.
Emmet Moynihan, of South Douglas Road, Cork, was travelling to Las Vegas for a stag party when the incident occurred on a flight bound for the US city on 6th August. He boarded the aircraft "smelling of alcohol" and, after being informed of a delay, attempted to use the toilet. When crew asked him to return to his seat, he told them it was a "f***ing joke" and verbally abused staff, Uxbridge Magistrates Court heard.
Prosecutor Abigail Day told the court that a fellow passenger had also noticed Moynihan smelled of alcohol and was "clearly drunk" during the confrontation with flight crew. When other passengers began filming the incident on their phones, Moynihan lunged towards them, demanding they stop recording him. The co-pilot ultimately intervened in an effort to get him seated.
Defence lawyer Paul Turnbull told the court his client had managed to get past other passengers due to his intoxicated state, and had simply wanted to use the toilet. Turnbull said: "The defendant was part of a group going to Las Vegas for a stag, there was an element of consumption in Cork and they had access to a lounge at Heathrow."
Videos of the incident circulated online and accumulated more than six million views, Turnbull said.
Moynihan travelled from Cork to appear before the Middlesex court on Wednesday, where he pleaded guilty to entering an aircraft when drunk and failing to obey the lawful commands of a pilot. He was ordered to pay a £2,224 (€2,598) fine, an £890 surcharge and £85 in costs.
In sentencing, Magistrate Sandra Joseph said the only reason the case had not been referred to the crown court was that the aircraft was still on the ground at the time, meaning passengers could have been evacuated. "However, had they been in the air this would be a completely different matter," she said.
Source: Irish Times