Sneaky cigarette in plane toilet lands smoker with a fine
A NICOTINE addict has been fined for having a cigarette in the loo on a plane as he flew home from a camping trip.
Michael Doyle, 35, twice sneaked into a toilet cubicle during his hour-long domestic flight for a secret smoke, because he was scared of flying and needed to “calm himself down”, a court was told.
A passenger on the Flybe de Havilland aircraft from Newquay to Manchester smelled the smoke and cabin crew alerted police. On the plane Doyle denied smoking, but he was arrested on landing.
Witnesses said he was “visibly twitchy” moments before going into the lavatory.
Doyle, from Whiston, Merseyside, admitted an anti-smoking offence under the Air Navigation Order 2016 and was fined £40 plus £200 costs at Manchester magistrates court on Wednesday. He could have faced a maximum penalty of £2,500.
Magistrates heard that Doyle had originally driven to Cornwall to join his family for a holiday. But he had an argument with his stepfather and opted to fly home early on June 21.
On the plane, which had up to 50 passengers, crew members noticed he was spending a long time in the lavatory.
Prosecutor Tina Cunnane said: “He used the toilet shortly after the aircraft took off. But he was in the toilet for a long period of time and once he came out, the crew kept an eye on him.” After he left the toilet for the second time, a passenger at the back of the plane reported a strong smell of smoke, Ms Cunnane said. The pilot alerted the crew, who discovered it came from the toilet.
After being arrested Doyle told police officers someone else must have lit a cigarette, Ms Cunnane said. But the crew had checked the toilet before he went in and knew it was him.
Doyle’s defence lawyer Ben Kaufman told magistrates: “He had driven to Newquay for a family holiday as he was very scared of flying, but unfortunately he had fallen out with his stepfather in Newquay and decided to fly home early.
“He was described by witnesses as visibly twitchy. He has let his addiction to smoking get the better of him in a stupid and foolish bid to calm himself down.
“He smoked a small part of a tobacco cigarette. He then attempted to put the cigarette out. He now knows how incredibly stupid what he did is.” Mr Kaufman said Doyle had shown “genuine remorse” by pleading guilty.