I’m a pharmacist. I work hard. You can’t tell me what to ******* do
A FOUL-MOUTHED pharmacist who brought misery to a holiday jet flying at 37,000 feet by ranting about the ‘afterlife’ and ‘Muslim principles’ was found with an almost empty bottle of duty-free vodka under his seat.
Dad-of-six Muhamed Azam has now been jailed over the abuse that came to a head when he was refused a drink by cabin crew on the Manchester Airport flight.
Azam, 37, falsely accused two air hostesses of being racist when they turned down his request for a full bottle of orange juice which he wanted to top up his secret vodka stash.
As other passengers on the fivehour flight to Morocco looked on, drunken Azam, who was due to start a ‘dad’s holiday’ with a group of fathers he knew, began shouting about the ‘afterlife’ and ‘Muslim principles.’
He stood in the aisle shouting: “I’m a pharmacist I work hard for my money. You can’t tell me what to ***king do.”
He also hurled abuse at the captain of the aircraft, kicked at the seat of a passenger in front of him and claimed a glass of orange juice he was given was watered down.
Police in the North African country were waiting to arrest Azam after the Thomas Cook jet touched down at Marrakech airport following the journey.
In a statement, air hostess Donna Bayley Jones said: “I have 27 years’ experience as a flight attendant dealing with a number of issues on board and this individual was one of the worst.”
Passenger Elizabeth Tarris said: “This male made me feel very uncomfortable.
I suffer from anxiety and this made it so much worse.”
At Manchester Crown Court, Azam, admitted being drunk on an aircraft and was jailed for six months.
The incident occurred on January 13 this year after Azam boarded the 6am flight at Manchester with his friends.
Prosecuting, Miss Juliet Berry said: “He came to the attention of cabin crew and passengers early on in the flight due to his loud manner and swearing.
“At this point the swearing was just in general conversation and not directed at anyone in particular but he was speaking loudly and swearing which was offensive to other passengers and crew.
“He was spoken to on a number of occasions by crew and his friends telling him to be quiet. In addition to the swearing he also made a number of comments to the cabin crew about their appearance.
“He commented to one about their hairstyle and asked them questions about football and the like. It was more overly familiar than inappropriate but he was making a nuisance of himself with the passenger in front of him as well, kicking his seat and playing with his trouser leg with his foot.
“The passenger in front asked him to stop and the defendant apologised. About 15 minutes before the flight landed, the defendant approached crew in the galley asking for a glass of orange juice. The crew told him the bar was closed and asked him to return to his seat for landing. But the defendant told them he was diabetic and would be ill if they didn’t give him some. With some reluctance, the crew provided him with a glass but he continued to be loud and rude.
“He then asked if he could have the whole bottle of orange juice. He said the cabin crew had watered down the orange juice they gave him and he complained about that and was generally being obnoxious.”
Judge Martin Rudland told Azam, of Stoke-on-Trent: “A message must be sent, not only to you but to others, that you cannot act this way on an airplane.”