A drunk Scottish man caused a disturbance while on board a Ryanair flight that landed at Edinburgh Airport after claiming he was served up a “freezing” cold lasagne.
Samuel Smith, 63, shouted “Ryanair is sh*te” and yelled at cabin crew that the pasta meal was “f***ing freezing” during his angry outburst. Smith then lashed out at wife Anne who was attempting to calm him down by taking off his wedding ring and launching it at his embarrassed spouse.
The captain of the aircraft was made aware of the incident and alerted police who were waiting for Smith when the plane landed at Edinburgh Airport in August 2020. Smith was subsequently arrested and charged and appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday where he admitted committing a breach of the peace while on board the aircraft.
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Fiscal depute Chelsea Martin told the court Smith had been drinking alcohol at the airport in Gran Canaria before his flight home to Scotland took off around 7.25pm on 22 August 2020. Ms Martin said: “Around 45 minutes into the flight the accused consumed a small bottle of Prosecco and ordered food.
“On arrival of the food the accused began shouting and swearing in relation to the condition of the food being supplied. He was heard to shout ‘That lasagne is f***ing freezing, I’m not taking that’.
“[He added] ‘Ryanair is sh*te’ and ‘this is unfair’. He was then heard to call the complainer ‘a f***ing bas**rd’.” The court was told Mrs Smith had attempted to calm her husband down and had “made him aware the police would be called”.
Ms Martin added: “Upon this the accused has removed his wedding ring and thrown it at the complainer.” Solicitor Chris Fehilly, defending, told the court Smith and his wife Anne had been married for 18 years and the couple were now “back together as man and wife” following the aircraft bust up.
Mr Fehilly said his client had adhered to his bail conditions but would reserve his full mitigation to next month’s sentencing hearing. Sheriff Adrian Fraser noted Smith, from Springburn, Glasgow, had previous convictions for domestic offending.
The sheriff said: “This matter is serious both because of that, and the fact it caused disruption on board an airplane on route to Edinburgh Airport. So this double aspect against the background of your record is concerning so I am going to call for criminal justice social work reports and a restriction of liberty order assessment.”
Sentence was deferred to next month. Smith pleaded guilty to conducting himself in a disorderly manner by shouting, swearing, acting in an aggressive manner, throwing his wedding ring at Anne Smith and committing a breach of the peace while on board a Ryanair flight between Gran Canaria and Edinburgh on 22 August 2020.
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