A man has been jailed after a drunken rampage on a flight resulted in him calling police "rats" as he was dragged off the plane. The Jet2 flight to Turkey had begun taxiing to the runway at Manchester Airport when the police were called due to Lewis Howarth’s vile behaviour. As a result the plane was forced to return to Terminal 1. Howarth had been abusive to staff, repeatedly stood up during the safety briefing and had called one stewardess a ‘d***head’ when asked to fasten his seatbelt, a court heard.
Officers boarded the plane and spoke to the cabin crew, who explained Howarth was ‘highly intoxicated’ and swearing at other passengers. As they approached him, he stood up, initially appearing compliant but his behaviour quickly changed when they began walking him towards the exit, a sentencing at Manchester Crown Court was told yesterday (January 23).
“He started to resist and tried to fight or assault those escorting him,” prosecutor Saul Brody said. “He was taken to the floor and handcuffed, and was described as thrashing his head towards the passengers and officers. He was restrained on the floor of the aisle, and once outside he continued shouting abuse towards the officers.”.
In bodycam footage shown to the court, hundreds of passengers were clapping and cheering, as some filmed on their mobile phones as Howarth was taken away. He could be heard swearing at the officers. At one stage, an officer tells him: “You were bang out of order, there were so many kids on there.
