The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Haulage boss flipped over ‘affair’ letter
Acompany director who flew into a violent rage after discovering his wife’s love cheat letter has been fined £1,530.
Haulage company owner Kenneth Manders, 59, found a letter addressed to his wife, which made him suspect she had been having an affair.
Manders was originally charged with endangering his wife’s life by trashing part of his home, dousing it in petrol and torching it in front of her.
He was also alleged to have poured washing-up liquid over her head before reversing his van towards her twice and striking her with the vehicle door.
Manders, of Lewis Place, Perth, eventually admitted three charges and was cleared in relation to seven more.
Perth Sheriff Court was told police officers had to draw their batons and strike Manders on the legs to bring him under control during the bust-up.
Sheriff William Wood told him yesterday: “It is clear that although you faced a number of charges, there were underlying issues that caused you to act in a certain way.
“That could be classed in the circumstances as a form of provocation. But your behaviour, when called upon to stop by police officers, was not appropriate or acceptable.
“This is a lesson. There are references in the social work report to difficulties in your relationship and the fact you have a temper.
“You should be old enough to deal with that now. You are better stepping backwards than forwards.”
Manders, a director of Perth-based KS Manders International Transport Ltd, admitted shouting and swearing, smashing a shed, kicking a fence and destroying the phone at the family home at Balgowan
Sawmill, Tibbermore on May 25 2019.
He also admitted repeatedly trying to punch PC George Wilkie, and assaulting PCS Wilkie and Craig Smith by lashing out at them.
Fiscal depute Lisa Marshall told the court that Mrs Manders had been in Perth on the morning of May 25 when
she received a text from her husband.
“About 10 minutes after she got home, he arrived and began shouting and swearing at her, repeatedly calling her a slut,” Mrs Marshall said.
Police officers arrived at the property at around 7pm and Manders was eventually handcuffed following a struggle.
Boeing has recommended that airlines temporarily ground planes with a similar engine to one that suffered a catastrophic failure in mid-flight on Saturday.
Federal aviation regulators in the US have ordered United Airlines to step up inspections of all Boeing 777s equipped with that type of engine following the incident over Denver.
United said it is temporarily removing those aircraft from service, as Boeing issued its recommendation for the grounding of planes until the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sets an inspection regime.
All Boeing 777s with the same engine as that of the plane which caught fire will be temporarily banned from entering UK airspace, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority said the engine was not used on models operated by UK airlines.
A statement said: “After the Pratt & Whitney 4,000112 engine incident on a Boeing 777 aircraft, we have suspended this configuration’s use in UK airspace.
“It is not used by any UK airlines. It is operated by airlines in the USA, Japan and South Korea where authorities have also stopped its use.”
Pratt & Whitney, maker of the engine, said it was sending a team to work with investigators while coordinating with airlines and regulators.
The announcements came after United Airlines Flight 328 had to make an emergency landing at Denver International Airport when its right engine blew apart just after take-off. Pieces of the casing of the engine, a Pratt & Whitney PW4,000, rained down on suburban neighbourhoods.
The plane with 231 passengers and 10 crew on board landed safely, and nobody on board or on the ground was reported to be hurt, authorities said.
FAA administrator Steve Dickson said in a statement on Sunday that based on an initial review of safety data, inspectors “concluded that the inspection interval should be stepped up for the hollow fan blades that are unique to this model of engine, used solely on Boeing 777 airplanes”.
Boeing said it supported decisions by the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau and FAA to suspend operations of all 777 aircraft powered by Pratt & Whitney 4,000-112 engines.
It said there were 69 of the engines in service and another 59 in storage.
“We are working with these regulators as they take actions while these planes are on the ground and further inspections are conducted by Pratt &
Whitney,” statement.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said that two of the engine’s fan blades were fractured and the remainder of the fan blades “exhibited damage”.
The NTSB did caution that it was too early to draw conclusions about how the incident happened.
Video posted on Twitter showed the engine fully engulfed in flames as the plane flew through the air.
Freeze frames from it said in a different video taken by a passenger sitting slightly in front of the engine and posted on Twitter appeared to show a broken fan blade in the engine.
United is the only US airline with the Pratt & Whitney PW4,000 in its fleet, the FAA said.
United said it will work closely with the FAA and the NTSB “to determine any additional steps that are needed to ensure these aircraft meet our rigorous safety standards and can return to service”.