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Celebrity designer fined for attack on Virgin cabin crew
A celebrity dress designer has been fined £105 and ordered to pay costs of £320 after she attacked a Virgin Atlantic air stewardess.
Leena Romu, aged 63, hit Lisa O’Keefe on the back after she was ordered off an aircraft at Heathrow for being too drunk to fly.
A court in Ealing heard the Finnish-born designer, who has worked with fashion icon Vivienne Westwood and counts Joan Collins and members of the Royal family amongst her clients, was unsteady on her feet and abusive as she boarded the aircraft on December 20 last year.
She was clutching bottles of duty-free booze and the flight crew immediately smelled alcohol on her breath, said prosecutor Bhavin Patel.
After being asked to step off the plane, she became aggressive and shoved Ms O’Keefe between the shoulder blades.
Ms O’Keefe told the court she needed six sessions with a physiotherapist following the assault. In addition to court costs of £300 and a fine of £105, Romu was ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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