29 January 2024 , 23:56
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A woman who downed an “obscene” number of vodkas before boarding a plane to Rhodes for her “flight anxiety” called a police officer a Nazi, a court heard.
Jessica Chance, 37, and her sister were set to join the TUI flight from Manchester Airport on September 15 last year when police arrived after passengers complained about Chance’s “rowdy” behaviour. As officers attended, she was struggling with staff at the bottom of the plane’s boarding stairs.
She was placed in handcuffs before she was escorted into the back of a police van to stop her from running onto the airfield, Manchester Crown Court heard. Her drunken behaviour continued, as she was abusive towards officers and called one a “Nazi”, Manchester Evening News reported.
Tobias Collins, prosecuting, said: “Cabin staff confirmed other passengers had told her to get off the plane, and after she got off the plane, she was trying to get back in.” Mitigating for Chance, Ian Metcalfe said she had gone to her GP to seek a prescription due to a ‘high level’ of anxiety about flying. She was suffering with mental health problems at the time for which she was prescribed medication, the court heard.
He said: "The GP was no longer issuing prescriptions for that particular cause. She, therefore, assumed she was able to pick something up at the Airport to pacify her, but nothing was available. She confessed to self medicating by drinking too much vodka.”
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He said there was no risk of harm by her behaviour at the time, and she has since been dismissed from her job as a result of the court case. Sentencing, Recorder Jennifer Cleeve said: “For passengers to reach a point they have to complain about your behaviour, it shows 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’. However, you do not present a risk or danger to the public.” Chance, of Meadowfields Drive, Crofton, was handed four weeks imprisonment which was suspended for a year, and ordered to complete 120 hours unpaid work.