A 30 year old US woman convicted of air rage on board a plane forced to divert to Shannon Airport overnight has escaped jail.
Marianne Thatcher of 1257 Park Avenue, Apt 3, New York 10029 pleaded guilty to three charges of being drunk, abusive and threatening to crew and passengers on the Delta Airlines flight from JFK to Athens.
Giving evidence at Ennis District Court Inspector Tom Kennedy said Ms Thatcher came to the attention of crew on board the Delta flight 132 about four hours into the journey when it appeared she was spilling water on both herself and fellow passengers.
They then noticed she was drinking wine and was intoxicated but when they took it from her – the 30 year old became abusive and started shouting obscenities and spat at one flight attendant.
She was then taken to the rear of the plane but started to kick the seat in front and was subsequently handcuffed in the galley .
The pilot then decided to divert to Shannon at 4 am this morning for the safety of the 283 passengers and crrew on board.
Once the plane landed Ms Thatcher was arrested by Shannon Gardaí who observed she was intoxicated and difficult to deal with.
The 30 year old was then charged with three counts of engaging in behaviour likely to cause serious offence or annoyance to any person on board the Delta Airlines flight having being requested by a member of the crew to cease such behaviour; of being intoxicated to such an extent as would give rise to a reasonable apprehension that you might endanger yourself or other persons on board and thirdly of engaging in behaviour of a threatening, abusive or insulting nature whether by word or gesture with intent to cause a breach of the peace or being reckless as to whether a breach of the peace might have been occassioned.
Her solicitor told the court that her client was shocked and terrified to find herself in this situation and had brought shame on her whole family.
The 30 year old who studied various forms of art including ceramics and had worked in a number of galleries – held dual US-Greek citizenship and was on her way to Greece to stay with her mother – a noted psychoanalysist that lived in the country. She was also particularly looking forward to seeing her grandmother.
The court also heard that she was an only child, that her parents were divorced and her father had died from pancreatic cancer and Ms Thatcher had left a gallery in Paris to nurse him in New York.
Her solicitor said she became depressed following his death and then drink became an issue – Judge Aeneas McCarthy was told that Ms Thatcher had one drink in the airport prior to the flight, then a couple on board but didn’t remember anything after that.
The 30 year old pleaded guilty to all three counts in court today and was fined 500 euro- the conviction also carries a four month jail term but Judge McCarthy said it would be disproportionate given her guilty plea, remorse and lack of previous convictions.
In a statement to Clare Fm Delta Airlines said "the safety and security" of its passengers and crew is their "number one priority".
A spokesperson added that the airline crew are known for their "utmost professionalism and focus on safety" and that "this is another example of our crew members’ work every day to ensure the safety of our customers."
