Social worker who 'drunkenly punched cabin crew' forcing Jet2 pilot to make emergency landing is jailed four months
25 October 2023, 21:50 | Updated: 25 October 2023, 21:53
A woman who forced a Jet2 plane to declare an emergency after drunkenly punching the cabin crew has been sentenced to four months in prison.
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Mum-of-two, Heather Anne McCarroll, 38, has been sentenced to four months in prison after she punched a plane’s cabin crew, screamed over the intercom, and smashed the aircraft’s toilet.
The pilot was forced to declare an emergency and land as soon as possible due to the incident.
Ms McCarroll, a social worker from Cullybackey, County Antrim, was on a flight from Belfast to Antalya, Turkey, on 6 September 2022 when she entered an frenzied state of drunkenness.
A prosecuting lawyer told Antrim Magistrates court on Tuesday that police had received a report from Jet2 four days after the incident.
They reported that passenger 32D - which was Ms McCarroll’s seat - had started shouting and swearing at cabin crew.
She reportedly called the cabin manager a “big lesbian b*****” and “f***** s**t”.
Ms McCaroll could also be heard “shouting sexual obscenities and kicking the door” while she used the plane’s toilet. The toilet was so badly damaged it had to be closed for the rest of the flight.
The prosecuting lawyer added that the mum-of-two “punched a crew member to the throat” and then assaulted two members of the cabin crew at the rear of the plane.
The social worker was handed the four-month sentence at court on Tuesday but was not immediately detained as she was granted bail, pending an appeal of her sentence.
Ms McCaroll entered guilty pleas at a previous hearing, according to the DailyMail, on four charges of common assault, one offence of criminal damage, of being drunk on a plane, endangering the safety of an aircraft, and behaving in a threatening, abusive or disorderly manner towards cabin crew.
During her interview with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Ms McCaroll claimed she could not remember much of the flight due to drinking alcohol and taking two diazepam because “she’s a nervous flyer”.
In mitigation defence counsel Aaron Thompson said the social worker is: “totally and utterly ashamed by this and is mortified by her behaviour.”
He added that she has been suspended from her job as a social worker and faces losing employment.
Judge Nigel Broderick told the court “there are too many of these incidents”, as he contemplated handing the mum-of-two a deterrent sentence.
Noting his familiarity with such cases, as Belfast International Airport falls within his jurisdiction, Judge Broderick told Ms McCarroll: “I have to say, this is possibly the worst form of behaviour that I have come across.”
“It is not unfortunately uncommon for passengers to take excessive amounts of alcohol and to then be disruptive on a flight but this behaviour takes it to a whole new level,” he added.
Ms McCaroll was sentenced to four months in jail in addition to fines amounting to £300.
Her appeal is likely to be heard next month.
