A passenger on a British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Las Vegas has been fined after admitting to verbally abusing staff while "clearly drunk".
Emmet Moynihan "smelled of alcohol" when he boarded the BA flight on August 6. After being told the flight was delayed, he tried to use the toilet and called it a "f****** joke" and "verbally abused staff" when he was asked to sit down, the court heard.
The 31-year-old, from County Cork in the Republic of Ireland, flew into London on Wednesday (26 August) for his appearance at Uxbridge Magistrates Court.
Court hearing and fine
Mr Moynihan, who wore a grey Levi's hoody in court, was fined £2,224 after pleading guilty to entering an aircraft when drunk and failing to obey the lawful commands of a pilot.
Videos of the incident were circulated online and accrued more than six million views, Moynihan's lawyer Paul Turnbull said.
Prosecutor Abigail Day told the court "a passenger had also noticed that he smelled of alcohol and was clearly drunk" during the altercation with the flight crew.
Incident details
Ms Day said: "Passengers then began filming him with their telephone and he was lunging towards passengers' phones saying 'stop f***** recording m''." She said the co-pilot eventually got involved in trying to get Moynihan to sit down.
Mr Turnbull said his client had "got past everyone" in his intoxicated state, and was only up and about from his seat because "he wanted to use the toilet".
"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," he said.
Sentencing
Moynihan, of South Douglas Road, Cork, admitted both counts and was ordered to pay a £2,224 fine, an £890 surcharge and £85 in costs.
In sentencing, Magistrate Sandra Joseph said: "There is only one reason we were not going to send it to the crown court, and that is that the plane was still on the ground and therefore passengers could have been evacuated.
"However, had they been in the air this would be a completely different matter."
