Woman, 51, lashed out at child and other passengers on Virgin flight
A 51-year-old mother of two has been handed a suspended prison sentence after lashing out at fellow passengers, including a child, on a Virgin Atlantic flight.
Isleworth Crown Court heard that Louise Dixon, of Ogmore-by-Sea, Vale of Glamorgan, drunkenly hit an eight-year-old boy in the face with a water bottle on a plane ‘with some force’.
She had boarded the flight after drinking two bottles of beer and half a bottle of brandy, said the BBC.
The court heard that Dixon began behaving ‘very strangely’ less than 20 minutes into the flight, raising her fist at nearby passengers and lashing out at crew who tried to restrain her.
She was handcuffed for six hours on the flight from Miami to Heathrow on April 12.
Dixon admitted three counts of assault and one of being drunk on a plane and was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years.
She was also ordered to pay £400 compensation to each of the three common assault victims, attend a 25-day rehabilitation program for alcoholics and complete 200 hours community of service.
Her defence lawyer, Zaki Hashmi, described the events on the flight as a ‘wake-up call’.
Dixon told the court in a statement: "I am so sorry for what I have done. I will never behave in this way again."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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