A woman kicked off a plane to Santorini for being drunk has avoided jail after claiming she downed four double vodkas to soothe her ‘flight anxiety’.
Jessica Chance, 37, had been staring at the possibility of a two-year prison term after she was arrested for lashing out at police officers who hauled her off the TUI flight.
She had to be handcuffed to stop her legging it back across the tarmac at Manchester Airport and called one a ‘Nazi’ as she was placed in the back of a van on September 15 last year.
But Chance told the city’s crown court she had been ‘self-medicating’ with alcohol because she could not get any tablets from Boots which might calm her nerves.
She said she had previously been prescribed medication ‘on the basis flying created in her a heightened sense of fear and anxiety’ but was told the prescription was no longer available.
Chance, from Crofton, Wakefield, pleaded guilty to being drunk on an aircraft.
She was sentenced to four weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, after the judge agreed ‘mental health issues’ were a factor in her behaviour.
The incident occurred on September 15 last year after Chance had booked a trip to the Greek island of Santorini with her sister.
Police were summoned to Terminal 2 following a woman’s disruptive attempt to board her TUI flight to Rhodes, from which she was ejected due to her intoxicated and disorderly behavior.
Prosecutor Tobias Collins reported: ‘An incident was observed by the police at the bottom of the airstairs, where the defendant was seen struggling with the staff while trying to board the plane.
The staff corroborated that the defendant was previously asked to deplane, yet she persistently endeavored to reboard following this.
Upon being taken to the police van, she verbally abused the officers, even going as far as to address one as a Nazi. She was subsequently arrested and remained silent following her caution.’
The court heard Chance had since lost her job following the incident.
Defending, Ian Metcalfe said: ‘Ms Chance is entirely ashamed of herself for what went on on September 15 of last year.
‘She was flying out to Greece with her sister and had never actually been to Greece before.
‘When she had flown in the past, the defendant says she would be prescribed medication from her doctor on the basis that flying created in her a heightened sense of fear and anxiety. But on this occasion the GP indicated that he no longer issued prescriptions for that particular cause.
‘Ms Chance therefore assumed that she would be able to pick something up that would pacify her at the airport at Boots, but nothing was available so she resorted to self-medicating by drinking too much, too much vodka in fact.
‘It is important to emphasise that there was no immediate safety risk caused or created by her conduct. If she had broken free and ran across the runway that would have created a difficulty – but that didn’t happen.
‘We are also not dealing with the case of behaviour when the plane was in flight and we are not dealing with the sort of case which required the rerouting of the aircraft.’
He said Chance had shown ‘genuine remorse’ for her conduct.
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Chance was also ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and pay £510 in costs.
Sentencing her, the judge Ms Recorder Jennifer Cleeve told her: ‘For passengers to reach a point that they have to complain about your behaviour, it shows that it must have caused some concern.
‘You had drunk four double vodkas and some lager to assist with your anxiety. You drank an obscene amount of alcohol, this was not an attempt to “take the edge off”.
‘In mitigation, you are remorseful and embarrassed about your behaviour and you have lost your own job as a result of having committed this offence which is punishment in itself.
‘Usually, you are medicated for fear of flying. You sought medication on this occasion but you were unsuccessful. To a small extent, mental health factors may have contributed to your behaviour.
‘You do not pose a danger to the public.’
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