Window fitter and wife arrested Drone chaos suspect is model plane buff... but boss says he was working
A FORMER model planes enthusiast and his wife were being quizzed last night over the drone chaos that hit the flights of 200,000 people at Gatwick.
Officers were also searching the £590,000 home of window fitter Paul Gait, 47, and wife Elaine Kirk-gait, 54, just two miles from the airport.
But Paul’s ex-partner and employer said there is no way he could have been responsible – because he was sitting with her drinking a cup of tea on the morning of one of the drone flights.
Travellers have faced chaos since a drone was spotted on Wednesday and the couple were arrested on suspicion of disrupting aviation late on Friday.
It is claimed Paul’s Facebook profile has been used to “like” updates from nearby Hastings Model Flying Club.
Last night his mum Margaret, 70, said: “We’re just so shocked.
“I last spoke to him on Monday. It’s just not the sort of thing that Paul would do. He’s a nice person.”
Dad Francis, 72, said: “People know he’s had helicopters and things. He’s had some cracking helicopters and enjoyed flying them but I think he just ended up selling them all.
“He had them ages ago, ages ago. It’ll be a year or two. I can’t believe Paul’s involved in this, I just can’t.”
Ludmila Adomako, 69, who lives in the same street, said: “I’ve seen him with helicopters before and remote control cars. I think he’s an enthusiast.
Shocked
“Police came this morning and asked if we had seen anything suspicious. I asked them if it was regarding the drone at Gatwick and they said ‘yes’.”
Mrs Adomako, who is a retired Home Office worker, added: “I am shocked. He always seems like a very polite and nice man who works very hard.”
Another neighbour said: “I’m staggered from what I know of them to hear they could be involved in this. I’ve never heard them complain about the airport or anything like that.”
Paul and Elaine, an office worker, got together after meeting through their shared love of dogs. They wed in 2013 and moved into their house nearly six years ago. The neighbour added: “They invited us to a barbecue for Elaine’s 50th four years ago and were charming.
“Paul works six days a week and they have two dogs – I think one is a Jack Russell and the other one is a pug. “They’re such a normal couple. Nobody would ever expect them to be involved in something like this.”
Paul has previously liked a number of posts showing images of model aircraft on the Hastings Model Flying Club Facebook page.
Flights were initially halted at Gatwick at 9pm on Wednesday after air-traffic controllers spotted a drone.
Over the next 33 hours, some 1,000 flights
were can- celled c or diverted, affecting 200,000 passengers. p As the crisis grew, around 100 police officers from more than 20 f forces were hunting the culprits and marksmen were posted to shoot down the drone.
Flights resumed on Friday but another sighting at 5.20pm briefly closed the airport – five hours before the arrests.
They were back on yesterday as worke ers battled to clear the backlog.
Police said last night the incidents are not being treated as terrorism but they are still seeking witnesses.
Paul’s dad Francis, who lives with wife Margaret in Lydd, near Folkestome, Kent, said: “The times this thing was flying in the daylight Paul was at work. He starts at 7am, 20 miles from his
Mhouse, and gets home when it’s dark, so it’s beyond belief.
“On Monday I don’t think he got home till 8pm. He said he was still at work as there had been a problem.
“I don’t know if someone’s phoned in and said something and they’ve all gone flying round there gung-ho.
“We just don’t know. I think they’re just dying to pin it on somebody.
“I can’t believe for one minute it’s true. It’s just mad.”
Paul’s former partner Gemma Allard also rubbished the idea of him being the culprit. The 40- year- old, of Crowborough, East Sussex, runs Allard Double Glazing, where he works. She said: “He comes to my house every morning, I’ve got a child with him. The morning of this going on, he was sitting in my front room having a cup of tea with me. The rest of the day he was working at my clients’ houses.
“I’ve known him since 2000. Paul wouldn’t do this, he was sitting in our office in Crowborough. Somebody with a bone to pick has probably said something to the police, that’s how he ended up in custody.
“Paul works for me as a double glazing installer, he goes straight into work where numerous people would have seen him.”
Father John Allard, who also runs the firm, added: “Paul comes in around 7.45am and I remember on those days he worked late on site on a fitting job.
“I don’t think it can be him. He was busy on site working when it