12 months for drunk who forced plane landing
10.10.08
A drunken man who threatened to open the door of a First Choice aircraft at 30,000ft has been jailed for 12 months.
Dean Lyons, 29, of Basingstoke, Hampshire, lunged at the door of the Boeing 767-300 to the horror of the 257 passengers and 11 crew onboard. The plane, full of tourists travelling from Gatwick to Cuba, was forced to make an emergency landing in Bermuda.
Police boarded the plane in Bermuda, and passengers cheered as they led him away. The passengers - excluding Mr Lyons but including his girlfriend and two friends - were able to continue on to Cuba the next day after spending the night at an airport hotel.
He was arrested on his return to Gatwick on 18 July and pleaded guilty to being drunk on a plane during the incident on 16 July. Mr Lyons also admitted a separate offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) after punching a man in a Basingstoke pub on 23 December 2007. He was jailed for 12 months for both offences at Winchester Crown Court.
Add to: del.icio.us | Digg it | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
To book hotel near gatwick or car park gatwick at the lowest price, click on these links to two great gatwick parking and gatwick hotels price comparison pages.
