An easyJet passenger attacked a flight attendant on a flight from Manchester Airport | Travel News | Travel

A man grabbed a flight attendant by the neck after she warned him to be careful as he was out of his seat when the plane landed.

Colin Smith, 51, was traveling to Malta with his partner for a pre-arranged 50th birthday celebration when the easyJet cabin crew member saw him get up after the seatbelt sign had been lit.

Assuming Smith was heading for the bathroom, she told him to be careful but was met with a “vacant” stare.

Smith then grabbed her by the neck with both hands, Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester heard.

Before he tried to attack her again, the woman managed to get away.

She pushed him away, and he fell on two seated passengers and was restrained, reports Manchester Evening News.

As he continued to berate her, the hostess asked her partner if he had any health issues, to which she replied, “I told him not to drink that whisky.”

A week later he was arrested and questioned and admitted to officers that he had drunk three-quarters of a bottle of Famous Grouse whiskey and described himself as “nine out of 10 drunk”.

Smith, of Anlaby Park, Hull, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to being drunk on a plane and being assaulted. He will be sentenced next year.

Continuing, Edmund Potts told the court that on March 28 this year the cabin crew member was working on an easyJet flight from Manchester to Malta.

As the plane landed, the seatbelt signs were on and she was doing her aisle checks when she saw Smith get up and climb over her two neighbors to enter the aisle.

She assumed he was getting up to go to the bathroom and warned him to be careful, at which point he stared at her with a “blank stare” before “grabbing her by the neck with both hands”, said the prosecutor.

“She yelled at him, ‘What are you doing? I do not even know you! “said Mr. Potts.

“The defendant again approached her and attempted to strike her, causing her to back down the aisle.

“In an effort to defend herself, she pushed him away causing him to fall onto seated passengers. Some of the passengers helped hold him down.”

One of the passengers said he might be having a fit, but it was quickly established that he was “just drunk”.

Smith continued to lash out at the woman as she spoke to her partner who made the stark admission.

When he returned to the UK a week later on a Jet2 flight, he was arrested and made a full confession.

He said he bought two bottles of Famous Grouse whiskey from duty free and poured three-quarters of a bottle during the trip.

In a personal victim statement read in court, the woman described feeling upset and anxious. She added that she was afraid of further attacks in the future.

Smith is said to have six prior convictions for nine offenses and was most recently in court in May 2018 for an assault and battery offence.

Defending, Colette Renton said her client’s memory of the incident was “fragmented” due to his intoxication.

She said his fear of flying contributed to his drinking and he was going on holiday for his 50th birthday, which was a “relief” for him and his partner following recent family bereavements.

“He expresses his remorse and states that he wishes to apologize to the victim for the impact his behavior had on her,” Ms Renton said.

The lawyer said he was caring for his partner’s disabled daughter and also caring for his partner’s elderly mother who lives with them and has dementia.

“This defendant represents her [his partner] rock – both in practical and emotional care,” she said. “There are many caregiving responsibilities.

Ms Renton requested an adjournment of the sentencing hearing to obtain further reports on the effect of an immediate custodial sentence on Smith’s partner, daughter and mother.

Adjourning sentencing until January 16 next year, Judge Angela Nield told Smith: “I will adjourn your sentence for the purposes outlined by your attorney.”

Smith was released on unconditional bail until the next hearing.

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