Drunk mum who lit up cigarette on Leeds Bradford Airport-bound Jet2 Turkey flight sent to prison
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Emma Woolley was jailed at Leeds Crown Court this week for the incident on the Jet2 flight from Antalya to Leeds Bradford. The 43-year-old mother from Wakefield had been to Turkey for dental treatment and had downed a “cocktail” of alcohol before boarding the flight in January this year.
Around 90 minutes into the four-and-a-half-hour flight, Woolley was causing a “disruption” with other passengers, with the cabin crew being told that she had been swigging a bottle of Martini that she brought on board herself.
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When challenged, Woolley told staff that she was in pain and was “wasn’t doing any harm”. She agreed to hand over the bottle but was aggressive and taunted them about what they could do about her behaviour, prosecutor Emily Thorbjornsen told the court.
Woolley then began rolling a cigarette and went into the toilet. When the crew came to the toilet, she was coming out and a cloud of cigarette smoke was visible. She told staff: “It was only three f****** puffs.”
She was given a verbal warning, but she accused them of discriminating against her because she has a disability. She then rolled another cigarette and said she need it for when she was arrested.
Woolley, of Warren Avenue, Wakefield, was detained when the flight landed and officers noticed she was still slurring her speech. She was later interviewed by police but gave no comments.
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Hide AdShe has five previous convictions, including being drunk and disorderly and drink driving. She admitted entering an aircraft while drunk, smoking on an aircraft and behaving in a threatening, abusive or disorderly manner towards staff.
A probation report found that it was her fourth trip to Turkey to receive treatment for her teeth. She admitted she was drunk but was “remorseful for what she did and accepts it was wrong”.
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Hide AdBut Judge Ray Singh said an immediate custodial sentence was necessary, so jailed her for four months. He said: “It’s clear you can’t smoke on a plane. It’s a very serious risk of safety to passengers. They were quite rightly alarmed by your behaviour.
“You need to know that experiences of drunken individuals in the confines of an aircraft is terrifying. You may have a problem with alcohol. I can’t avoid an immediate custodial sentence.
“These type of offences have to be met with a deterrent to ensure others do not behave in the way that you did.”