Two women whose drunken and disruptive behaviour caused a British Airways flight to make an emergency landing have been jailed.
The pair, on a flight from London to Tunisia, hid inside the toilets, swore in front of children and were aggressive towards cabin crew.
The behaviour of Serena Meade and Karen Wildman was so bad that the pilot, who was watching on CCTV from the cockpit, took the decision to land at Lyon where the friends were handed over to French police.
According to evidence produced in court, the diversion cost BA more than £4,500 and delayed the New Year’s Eve flight for four hours.
Meade admitted acting in a destructive manner on an aircraft and Wildman admitted endangering the safety of an aircraft.
They were jailed for eight months at Lewes Crown Court last month, but now London’s Criminal Appeal Court has cut Meade’s sentence to six months because of her personal difficulties.
Both women had been drinking before boarding the plane. The problems began when they were asked to move seats because Meade, who was in a wheelchair at the time, needed to be in a section of the cabin reserved for disabled passengers.
When cabin crew refused to serve them alcohol, they opened a bottle of Malibu they had bought in duty free and drank it until it was confiscated.
They were issued with a written warning from one member of the cabin crew but ripped it up in front of her.
According to the Daily Mail, they then followed her into the galley, confronted and pushed her, before hiding in the toilet, where Meade started smoking.
Judge McCreath said: "Their conduct was prolonged and caused distress to other passengers – not only by the delay and inconvenience, but also by the incidents themselves."
