A man had to be kicked off a Jet2 flight because he was so drunk, then assaulted police as they tried to take him off the plane.
Reece Nelson, 31, was on a flight from Newcastle to Ibiza when staff refused to serve him any more drinks and decided he should be ejected before take-off as he was causing disruption.
Police boarded the early morning flight to escort him off – but things escalated from there.
Despite officers initially telling him he might be able to get on another flight later after sobering up, he didn’t take things well and shouted ‘Are you winding me up? It’s her taking the p***, it’s her attitude’, referring to an air steward.
After being told to get his hand luggage and leave, he continued to shout ‘f*** off’ and called the flight attendant a ‘fat bi***’.
He swung punches at the officers and tried to bite one of them on the arm as they walked him down the steps of the plane on July 3.
Once at the police station, he continued to hurl abuse at officers and had to be restrained.
Nelson, of Farringdon in Sunderland, pleaded guilty to assaulting an emergency worker and being drunk in an aircraft on the day his trial was due to begin at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.
Glenda Beck, prosecuting, said police were on duty at Newcastle International Airport at around 7.30am when they received a call regarding a drunk male.
She said: ‘They were told there was a drunk male onboard and that attendants were concerned about him and would not serve him any more alcohol.’
Cabin crew believed Nelson, who had brought his own duty-free booze onto the flight, would cause more trouble while the flight was in the air and police boarded the plane as it was still grounded.
As Nelson was ushered off the flight, which had 189 passengers on board, he began shouting at another passenger, saying, ‘Shut up, I’ll cause a fuss if I want to’.
He then started to ‘swing punches’ with his head down at the officers and a struggle ensued before Nelson was finally taken to the ground.
It was then that Nelson ‘opened his mouth and put it around the forearm’ of one officer.
However, Nelson was struck to the face before he could bite down and the officer was left with scratches and redness to his arm.
Ms Beck said Nelson began screaming ‘I’ve had three pints, you’re spoiling my holiday’ before he was put in a police vehicle and taken to Forth Banks police station in Newcastle where he had to be put in leg restraints.
Jason Smith, defending, said: ‘The defendant has a very different view of what occurred, but the reality of the situation is it did occur and he’s accepted responsibility for that. It was deeply unpleasant for the passengers and officers involved, he shouldn’t have lost his temper.’
Mr Smith added that Nelson has a child and had recently obtained a new job working in scaffolding.
The magistrates sentenced Nelson to 14 weeks prison, suspended for two years and ordered him to complete 25 rehabilitation days and pay £400 compensation to the officers.
Following the sentencing yesterday, he told the court he would ‘take more responsibility’ in future.
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