"You can't f******' cuff me"....The passengers who

A holiday is supposed to be a relaxing, enjoyable experience.

The initial journey through the airport and onto the plane can sometimes be stressful, with the potential for delays or issues with security. But once in the air, passengers can start to relax and focus on what they’ll get up to on holiday.

But not always.

The following offenders have inflicted misery on cabin crew, who were simply trying to do their job, and on passengers trying to get to their destination. Here, the M.E.N. looks back at some of the cases heard recently in Manchester’s courts, where passengers ended up before a judge because of their air rage antics.

Table of Contents

Alexander Rogers

A drunk holidaymaker shouted vile abuse at cabin crew on an eight-hour flight from Mexico back to Manchester Airport.

Two off-duty police officers on the TUI flight from Cancun were forced to step in to try to calm self-employed scaffolder Alexander Rogers, 40, who was subsequently handcuffed to a chair. Rogers – who later told police he had six double vodkas before boarding – called one member of cabin crew an ‘Arab b****’.

The court heard that after being handcuffed, he shouted: “You can’t f******’ cuff me. Black Lives Matter. I am not a terrorist. I am not a danger to the plane. I am not a terrorist.”

Rogers, from Rochdale, pushed the shoulder of another member of cabin crew and said to her: “Just f*** off. Get f*****.”

A judge, who heard children and families were forced to move seats, called his behaviour ‘quite appalling’ and said everyone on board was a victim as they couldn’t go anywhere at 36,000ft. The captain was even on the verge of diverting the plane, Manchester Crown Court was told.

Rogers pleaded guilty to being drunk on board an aircraft; a racially or religiously-aggravated harassment charge and assault by beating. In November, he was jailed for six months.

Shirley Devine

A mum was told she had been ‘very fortunate’ to avoid jail after launching a foul mouthed drunken tirade on a flight.

Shirley Devine was held by police after the plane landed at Manchester Airport. The cabin crew had called in officers because of the 44-year-old’s abusive behaviour, on a flight home from a family holiday in Gran Canaria.

Just weeks before the incident, she had appeared in court for drink driving. Deciding to give her another chance, Judge Elizabeth Nicholls said: “You may consider yourself very fortunate.”

Manchester Crown Court heard how earlier on during the flight, on September 30, cabin crew had noticed that she had been sitting with her head resting on her arms. Devine told them she was okay, although they noted a smell of alcohol.

Later, a member of the cabin crew felt someone push them from behind, as Devine tried to get around her. She then called the cabin crew member a ‘f****** fat bi***’.

She returned to her seat, and shortly after she was asked to hand over her boarding pass and passport so the cabin crew could check her details. But Devine became ‘aggressive’, prosecutor Sam Eskdale said.

The captain alerted the airport that the police would be required when the aircraft landed. When officers arrived they noticed that Devine appeared intoxicated and was slurring her words.

“You can just f*** off,” she said. After being put into a police van, she began ‘thrashing’ around and banging her head.

During a hearing earlier this week, the judge said she would defer sentencing until April, to allow time for Devine’s progress to be monitored. An alcohol abstinence order which had been imposed previously was ordered to continue.

“If you fail to comply with that order, then you know that you are sending yourself to custody,” Judge Nicholls told the defendant. “That’s the threat hanging over your head.”

Devine, of Cornfields Close, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to being drunk on an aircraft.

Abid Hussain

A drunk tried to blame the cabin crew for serving him booze after he went berserk on a flight.

Abid Hussain, 49, necked four miniature bottles of whiskey on a flight from Dubai to Manchester. His loutish behaviour was so bad that staff restrained him using cable ties.

Manchester Crown Court heard that when police asked him to stop swearing Hussain told them he didn’t ‘give a f***’. He was sentenced to 15 weeks in prison for his ‘atrocious’ actions.

Prosecuting, Olivia Brooksbank-Laing said that police were told that there had been an issue on an Emirates flight from Dubai to Manchester, on January 20 last year. Hussain had to be restrained by staff on board the flight due to his behaviour.

For the last two hours of the flight, he had been abusive towards cabin crew and shouting and swearing. He had been pacing up and down the aisle and pushed staff, prosecutors said. When police arrived after the flight had landed in Manchester, officers found Hussain being held down by two members of staff, and he had been restrained using plastic zip ties.

When police asked him to stop swearing, he told them: “I don’t give a f***.” He continued to be abusive and claimed that he had been ‘sleeping with one of their wives for seven years’.

When questioned by police, Hussain said that he had been travelling alone from Pakistan. He had been an ‘alcoholic’ for four years, but had been sober for the last seven months, he said.

After becoming stressed from travelling he ordered miniature bottles of whiskey. Four miniature bottles had been served to him during the flight. He admitted that drinking alcohol can make him ‘violent’ and ‘aggressive’, and ‘prone to swearing’, and apologised to the officers.

But when he was quizzed by a probation officer, Hussain said that he shouldn’t have been served alcohol, and told how he was going to complain to the airline.

Hussain, of New Augustus Road, Bradford, pleaded guilty to entering an aircraft while drunk and failing to surrender to court.

Christopher Parker

A drunk holidaymaker caused chaos on a flight bound for Manchester Airport after downing five double vodkas and two pints of beer. Christopher Parker, 29, boarded the SunExpress flight from Turkey on August 9 this year.

After ordering drinks he became ‘belligerent’, Manchester Crown Court heard. As the plane descended, Parker ignored seat belt signs and instructions from staff. He left his seat twice before walking around the plane.

During a row with staff he assaulted another passenger. Police later boarded the flight and asked to speak with Parker ‘calmly’. He got his phone from his pocket to try and film the encounter before he was arrested.

Parker admitted entering an aircraft when drunk and was handed a suspended sentence. Cabin crew were already aware of Parker as he boarded the flight in Antalya, prosecutor Samuel Eskdale earlier told the court. While on the flight, he drank five double vodkas and two beers.

The court heard Parker’s behaviour became ‘belligerent’ as the flight descended, ignoring the seat belt signs, leaving his seat twice and walking around then aircraft.

“During the course of an altercation [between the defendant and cabin crew] it is believed the defendant hit another passenger – though no complaint was made,” Mr Eskdale added.

The flight landed at the terminal before police boarded. As the plane door opened, Parker stood directly behind a member of cabin staff as they told officers what had happened.

He was heard shouting over the officers: “I haven’t hit anyone.” He was advised to leave the aircraft and speak to officers calmly. Parker was shouting and was visibly drunk.

“The defendant then took his phone from his pocket to record the encounter. He was told that he was unable to do so because of airport bylaws and told to put his phone away,” Mr Eskdale said.

“He then reached out towards officers who restrained him and arrested for the offence.”

Sentencing him, Judge Kate Cornell described his behaviour as ‘aggressive, unpleasant and belligerent’. “This was thoroughly horrible. You were belligerent, but not violent.”

Parker, of Eldridge Drive, Manchester, was sentenced to 11 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, ordered to undertake 15 days of rehabilitation activity requirements and pay a £500 fine.

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