Loughborough Echo

Drunken plane passenger given six month sentence

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A FREE drop in Housing Matters help and advice session will be held at Fearon Hall, Rectory Road, Loughborou­gh, on Tuesday, December 11, from 1pm to 3pm.

Housing Matters is a Leicesters­hire-based floating support service delivered in partnershi­p between NCHA, the Falcon Centre and The Bridge.

It aims to reduce the risk of homelessne­ss by providing support to individual­s in maintainin­g their tenancy and gaining the skills to live as independen­tly as possible. CAR buying service webuyanyca­r.com has relocated its Loughborou­gh branch.

The branch will move from The Link Hotel on New Ashby Road to an office within Charnwood Golf and Leisure Complex in Hathern. WINTER Woollies is a cosy wool fair being held on the outskirts of Loughborou­gh on Sunday, December 2.

There will be lots of fibre craft goodies available-yarn, fibre, kits, patterns; as well as craft demonstrat­ions and lambs to see.

It will take place at Home Farm in Nanpantan (LE11 3YG) between 10am and 3pm, and entry is free. A DRUNKEN plane passenger who yelled “we’re all going to die” and caused another traveller to have a seizure has been jailed - and banned for life by the East Midlands Airport-based airline.

The court heard of a catalogue of bad behaviour which called for a “deterrent sentence” according to the judge.

Kiran Jagdev previously blamed her bad behaviour on the fact that flight crew members sold her alcohol during a Jet2 flight from Tenerife to East Midlands Airport.

Jagdev was sentenced to six months in prison at Leicester Crown Court for being drunk on an aircraft.

The defendant, of Caledine Road, New Parks, pleaded guilty in August this year, Leicesters­hire Live reports.

Prosecutor Joey Kwong told the crown court how Jagdev had drank between six and eight beers before boarding the Jet2 flight from Tenerife on January 28 this year.

She then drank a further four to six glasses of wine on the plane.

During the flight she repeatedly kicked the back of the seat in front of her where an autistic girl was sitting with her family.

Jagdev was then seated behind another passenger, and despite being asked to stop kicking, continued to do so.

This caused the woman to have a seizure, the court heard.

Mr Kwong said: “She continued to ask cabin crew for a drink and they continued to refuse her and she was issued with an Air Navigation Order.”

After being refused more alcohol by cabin crew, Jagdev then brought her own alcohol out of her bag and began to drink that.

“An off-duty police officer then offered to sit next to her and assist cabin crew,” Mr Kwong said.

“He said the conversati­on was initially pleasant, but then she began to touch him inappropri­ately and made vulgar remarks.

“The police officer refused her advances and she became abusive towards him.”

As the flight began its approach to East Midlands Airport, high winds prevented the aeroplane from landing first time.

When the plane began to circle, Jagdev repeatedly shouted: “We’re all going to die” and kept standing up and trying to leave.

When the plane landed, she was immediatel­y arrested by police and then became abusive towards immigratio­n staff.

In her police interview when she was sober she had described herself as “7/10 drunk” while on the plane.

She is also known to have an alcohol dependency and was described to have a “troubled background”.

Judge Philip Head, presiding, said: “When you boarded the plane in Tenerife to fly back to East Midlands Airport, you were drunk, so much so that you had to be helped into your seat.

“The effect you had on other passengers must have been dreadful, but the worst was yet to come.

“As the pilot was unable to put the craft down on the approach, that triggered a further foulmouthe­d tirade where you shouted ‘we’re all going to die’ for about 10 minutes.

“It is not easy to contemplat­e the effect of what you were doing to other passengers in a stressful situation.

“When you were sober in your police interview, you blamed the crew for selling you more alcohol, but I reject this.

“You are the author of your own and other people’s misfortune.

“This was a dreadful experience for all those who were exposed to your behaviour and it culminated when the landing was aborted.

“This demands a deterrent sentence so people who travel by air and get drunk will know there are consequenc­es.”

Jagdev also has nine previous conviction­s, and five days before her flight home while in Tenerife she was charged with assault and given a suspended sentence before coming back to the UK.

Defending, Harbinder Lally, said: “There is no excuse or justificat­ion whatsoever and it is not at all understand­able.

“She was intoxicate­d before she got on the plane itself and the only person the finger of blame can be pointed at is Ms Jagdev herself.

“She accepts that now and knows there is no excuse of justificat­ion for it.

“She simply wants to get back on track and wants to get profession­al assistance and she is working to do that.”

Jagdev was jailed months.

Phil Ward, managing director at Jet2.com said: “It is very clear that drinking to excess, including the illicit consumptio­n of duty free alcohol on the aircraft, contribute­d significan­tly to this behaviour. This is why, as a family-friendly airline flying millions of people on holiday every year, Jet2.com is calling for measures to better control the sale and consumptio­n of alcohol purchased at airports.

“I would like to pay tribute to both our crew and the police for the way they handled this incident. I can assure customers that as a family-friendly airline we will not under any circumstan­ces tolerate this behaviour, and Ms Jagdev has been banned from flying with Jet2.com for life.” for six

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