Community service for Edinburgh Airport gun ‘prankster’
09.08.08
A man who claimed he had a gun on a plane at Edinburgh Airport as a ‘joke’ has been sentenced to 80 hours' community service.
Vytauas Gulbinavicius told a cabin crew member he had a gun on a flight to Sharm el Sheik in Egypt. Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard the cabin crew were carrying out final checks before take-off on April 30 when a stewardess noticed a strap around Mr Gulbinavicius's left leg. Thinking it was a piece of hand luggage she asked him to place it under his seat. He replied that it was a gun holster (it was actually a sun visor's strap).
The 25-year-old mechanic, of Sinclair Road, Aberdeen but originally from Lithuania, said it was a joke but the stewardess told the captain, who contacted the police and took the plane back to the terminal. The Flyglobespan Boeing 737, carrying 130 passengers, was six hours late leaving as a result of the incident.
Elspeth McDougall, defending, said her client's conduct had been ‘ill-advised and idiotic’. She said Mr Gulbinavicius had been drinking and was in ‘good spirits’. Ms McDougall said she believed neither the crew nor passengers, which included members of his family and friends, had taken him seriously.
She said: ‘He has already paid a very heavy price. While his family and friends were enjoying their first night on holiday, he spent the night in St Leonards' police cells, lost the money he paid for his holiday and was banned from Flyglobespan flights for life.’
He was sentenced to 80 hours' community service at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after earlier admitting a breach of the peace.
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