A 30-year-old man who proposed to a senior air stewardess and became disruptive on a Jet2 flight has pleaded guilty to being drunk on an aircraft and faces a custodial sentence after the plane was forced to return to Leeds-Bradford Airport eight minutes after takeoff.
Matthew Taylor admitted in Leeds Magistrates' Court that he was intoxicated when he boarded the Alicante-bound flight on Aug. 18, which was carrying 148 passengers, many of them families and holidaymakers. Prosecutors said cabin crew first noticed his behaviour when he stumbled onto the aircraft and asked senior stewardess Brooke Crossley to marry him, then gave her a "high five" before taking his seat.
Prosecutor Sarah Quirie told the court that, once airborne, Taylor began turning in his seat and being loud. When a crew member approached, he removed his seat belt, refused to sit down and said, "You can't tell me what to do," the court heard. Cabin crew urged him to consider other passengers, but his aggression escalated, with witnesses reporting slurred speech, unsteadiness and wide, bloodshot eyes.
Footage of the incident circulated online after other passengers filmed the disturbance. Prosecutors said Taylor turned to a father seated behind him and asked, "Am I annoying you? Am I doing your head in?" Another stewardess, Millie Campbell, who had been trying to reason with him, began to receive assistance from passengers attempting to intervene. That, the court heard, risked inflaming the situation and left Campbell feeling "trapped" and fearful that a mass brawl could erupt on the aircraft.
Campbell, who has nine years' experience with Jet2, used the intercom to speak to the pilot. The captain declared the event a level two incident, reserved for physically abusive behaviour, and decided to divert back to Leeds-Bradford. Air traffic control requested police board the aircraft on landing. Taylor was removed, arrested and later gave officers a "no comment" interview. Prosecutors said his knuckles were bloody from repeatedly punching the tray table and that a passenger seated ahead had expressed fear of being attacked.
Magistrates were told the case was too serious to be dealt with at that level and must be committed for sentence at Leeds Crown Court. Defence counsel Shaida Chaudhury told the bench a pre-sentence report should be prepared and described her client as previously of good character. "He was a man of good character, but he is no longer a man of good character," she said, adding that his conduct "can't be condoned in any shape or form."
Taylor, who has no previous convictions, will be sentenced on Sept. 29. The court was told the offence could result in a custodial sentence and a substantial fine, reflecting the perceived seriousness of disruptive and abusive behaviour on board an aircraft.