Police charge air hostesses
FIJIAN immigration officials in 1980 apprehended two 23-year-old women for stowing away, bringing an end to the young ladies’ whirlwind adventure.
The Fiji Times of Monday, February 4, 1980, reported that the two young Air Pacific air hostesses, alleged to have stowed away in the liner Oriana, were whisked away from Suva’s Kings Wharf amid tight security and handed over to the police.
The girls, Trina Simpson and Thelma Miller, both of Suva, arrived in the P and O ship from Sydney the day prior to the report after allegedly having their passage fares of more than $500 each paid by their parents.
Police said they would face stowaway charges in Suva Court the next day.
Ports Authority of Fiji and immigration officials put a security barrier on the ship when she berthed at Kings Wharf.
Immigration men barred all visitors from Oriana for more than three hours until the girls were taken off at about 1:10pm.
They were then reportedly hurried into an Immigration Department car and driven away.
The aforementioned article adds that “a PAF security guard physically pushed away a Fiji Times reporter and photographer who wanted to approach the girls, and forcibly obstructed the photographer’s camera lens with his hand.”
Immigration and Union Steam officials had earlier told the reporter the girls were not in the ship and were arriving later by Air Pacific. But they could be seen waiting by a ship’s railing to disembark.
The girls were reported to have been found in the ship after she left Suva for Sydney on January 24, 1980.
One report said two crew members involved in the incident had been paid off in Sydney and sent home to Britain.
Deputy Superintendent Jag Nandan of the Central Police Station said the two were taken there by immigration officials and handed over to police that afternoon.
He said police had charged them with stowing away and released them on bail of $300 each with a $300 surety to appear in court the following day.