A British woman has been faced with a swift fine of €1,500 ($1,850) after her drunken, homophobic aggression forced an airline pilot to bring a plane down early.
The woman in question was flying from Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday (December 27). The Irish Mirror reports Gemma Campbell, 33, from Elston Road in Manchester, UK, was flying back to the UK from Fuertaventura aboard a Jet2 plane.
However, her behavior became abusive during the flight. This included repeatedly calling a member of the cabin crew a “faggot.”
It continued even after she was moved to a different section of the plane. So bad was Campbell’s behavior, the pilot decided to land the plane in Cork, Ireland, as he feared Campbell posed a danger to those on board.
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Once landed, Campbell was arrested by cops and later charged on two counts: Being intoxicated to such an extent as to give rise to fears that she might endanger herself or other persons on board the flight, and engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behavior with intent to cause or being reckless to causing a breach of the peace.
She appeared in court at a special sitting on Monday. She pleaded guilty to both charges.
Her barrister, Emmet Boyle, said Campbell was keen to put the matter behind her and was deeply remorseful and embarrassed by her behavior.
The court was told that Campbell had begun drinking before leaving for the airport and had continued aboard the flight. The cabin crew found an empty vodka bottle beneath her seat.
Campbell, who has no previous convictions, apologized deeply for her behavior.
Noting her use of “homophobic slurs”, and the inconvenience cause to the plane’s passengers by having to land in Cork, Judge Colm Roberts fined her €500 for the first offense and €1,000 for the second.
Related: Man punches bus passenger and says “I hate gay people”
michael_totzke
An “apology” from the likes of her means N O T H I N G …!!!
Fahd
I have no sympathy for anyone who spouts homophobic slurs when she gets drunk (yuck!). However, she did plead guilty – saving judicial resources and making her especially liable for civil damages where available — nevertheless, I think this fine/sentence is pretty light considering the costs and inconvenience involved in having to divert a commercial airliner. Especially since it seems she wasn’t served so much alcohol onboard, but instead brought her own (a no-no)). I think she’s responsible for what happened – inebriation is not an excuse before the law — and she pled guilty. The fine should discourage copycats, not encourage them. At these rates (fines) this seems like it encourages fraternity/sorority or bachelor(ette) party copycats who might want to place bets as to whether they can get a plane diverted. Travelers like this woman make travel unpleasant for everyone – she should be banned from air travel for some years in addition to having received a heftier fine and possibly some jail time.
trsxyz
The fine is not nearly enough. And her apology rings hollow. Alcohol simply released her inhibitions and showed her true nature. I’m also guessing that each of the charges brought against her are mere misdemeanors.
Max
fake embarrassment for the homophobia she suppressed but was released during her drunken stupor?
Openminded
She’s not the only one that needs to be fined in this event. Who let her get thru security and get on the plane with a bottle of Vodka? Even if it was a small flight service sized bottle that I suppose is less than 4 oz., that would mean she would have likely been showing signs of being drunk at check in and boarding as a flight sized bottle isn’t very likely to put anyone into this type of drunken state. She was either allowed to board drunk or allowed to carry on a large enough bottle to get drunk in flight. Not at all giving her a pass, but there is an accomplice in this crime that is also guilty.
BrokebackBob
How about we change the rules?
1. You can’t bring alcohol on the plane.
2. You must submit to a breathalyzer test before boarding. If you’re drunk you don’t fly.
Erna
This is HYSTERICAL, why was little Mary so sensitive when a drunken fish went ballistic?
We would like to meet Gemma – she sounds like a hoot!
We would take her to the Patrick’s Hill AA meeting in Cork, which is wild, and get her sobered up!