A mum who caused mayhem on a flight has avoided jail time due to being the sole carer of her one-year-old child after she attacked passengers and crew during a nine-hour flight
An “out-of-control” mum who lashed out and attacked cabin crew and other travellers in a wild 90-minute booze-fuelled rampage has avoided jail time after leaving her fellow passengers horrified.
Zoe Alexander, 36, caused chaos during a nine-hour flight from Manchester to Cuba after chugging on a bottle of brandy during the flight, Manchester Crown Court heard.
The 36-year-old’s behaviour was so chaotic that she had to be strapped in restraining equipment until her TUI flight touched down in Cuba.
Recounting the wild ordeal, one flight attendant called it “the most frightening incident” she’d witnessed during her 30-year career. Passing sentence, Judge Paul Mason told Alexander that such a severe incident of rage aboard a flight resulted in an immediate prison sentence “every single time.”
However, he agreed to let her walk free because she was the sole caregiver of a one-year-old child. Despite the judge letting Alexander walk, she was still hit with a suspended sentence for the August 2022 rampage.
Prosecutor Blaise Morris said the woman was “talking loudly, slurring her words and being overly familiar with passengers and cabin crew” during the flight.
He added Alexander moved around the plane “swaying from one aisle to another” as she entered and exited premium areas of the passenger jet. The prosecutor added that when the woman was told not to walk through premium cabin areas, she called a female member of staff a “’f****** b**** c***.”
The court heard Alexander was “generally rude and abusive” to members of the cabin crew and her fellow passengers. Morris said the mum “deteriorated” six hours into the flight as Alexander hurled verbal abuse at passengers in the same row as her.
The prosecutor added cabin crew aboard the flight spotted a two-thirds empty bottle of brandy behind the 36-year-old’s chair during the ordeal, which had fuelled her drunken rampage.
Mr Morris said she became so angry and aggressive that the crew on the TUI flight had no other option but to restrain her until the plane landed.
Crew member Gerard Taylor was punched and bitten by the irate mother as he tried to restrain her, while Alexander lashed out at passenger Graham Murphy, who helped staff.
The court was told Alexander told the member of staff: “I hope bad things happen to your children. I hope they die.” Once the plane touched down in Cuba, Alexander was arrested by local police.
At first, the mother from Hornchurch, Essex, denied charges of being drunk on an aircraft and three counts of assault by beating. However, Alexander changed her plea to guilty on the first day of her March trial.
Alexander’s barrister said she suffered from mental health issues, including an emotionally unstable personality disorder. Despite this, the barrister conceded alcohol was also a factor in the incident.
Sentencing the 36-year-old, Judge Mason handed Alexander a five-month sentence, suspended for 18 months and ordered her to attend 20 rehab days. The judge also imposed a 90-day alcohol abstinence on the mother and banned her from travelling out of the UK for 12 months.
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By staronline@reachplc.com (Joshua Whorms)
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