Drunk Jet2 thug causes holiday flight to be diverted after spitting on passenger

A drunken yob forced a holiday flight to Turkey to be rerouted to Germany after she behaved aggressively and spat on a fellow passenger.

Courtney Maich, 27, was being dragged off the aircraft by German police when she launched the "disgraceful and disgusting" attack on the mother of a child aboard the Jet2 service. Maich and her partner Alannah O'Neill, 28, had departed from Edinburgh Airport bound for Dalaman on their maiden flight when the duo started consuming their own booze.

The pair, both from Dundee, refused to cease their shouting and swearing despite repeated requests from cabin crew, with Maich even receiving a written warning from the captain regarding her conduct.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard the couple's antics compelled the captain to divert to Cologne roughly 90 minutes into the journey, where Maich was removed from the aircraft, reports the Daily Record.

The court was told passengers remained grounded for three hours before the aircraft could resume its journey to Turkey, whilst a return service to Edinburgh had to be postponed until the next day.

Jet2 was subsequently forced to shell out £27,370.53 accommodating passengers and crew in overnight hotel stays, with the return flight eventually touching down in Edinburgh 16 hours behind schedule. The court heard that the airline has now launched a civil action against both women in an attempt to recover their losses.

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Fiscal depute Eilidh Gunn revealed that Maich was asked to move as she was in the wrong seat but became aggressive towards the cabin crew shortly after take off around 4pm on 8 October last year.

She was part of a larger group and it's reported that drunken arguments broke out between them, including O'Neill, leading to the decision to divert the flight to Cologne.

Gunn stated: "German police then boarded the flight and in the process of removing Maich off the plane she spat at one of the passengers who was with her husband and seven-year-old son.

"The spit landed on her body, and she also shouted 'f*** you all' towards the passengers."

Footage of Maich being arrested and escorted off the flight was widely shared on social media following the incident. The duo appeared for sentencing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday after previously admitting to various offences last month.

Co-accused Natasha Gilligan, 49, from Dundee, had not guilty pleas accepted by the Crown and a non-appearance warrant is out for the arrest of fourth accused Michaela Hawes, 35, also from Dundee.

Sheriff Peter Anderson said the couple's behaviour had "catastrophic consequences" for the other passengers and they had "ruined the start of a holiday for a large number of people".

The sheriff stated: "All of this because you couldn't control your drink. This was utterly disgraceful conduct and cannot be allowed to happen again."

Maich and O'Neill were handed a 12-month supervision order, ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and both will be tagged with a curfew requiring them to stay at home between 8pm and 7am, Maich for four months and O'Neill for three.

In addition, Maich was told to cough up £200 in compensation for what the sheriff labelled as a "disgraceful and disgusting" assault on Ms Taylor.

Maich admitted to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting, swearing, acting aggressively and making threats of violence and offensive remarks to other passengers on the flight between Edinburgh and Cologne. She also confessed to assaulting a woman by spitting on her.

Both Maich and O'Neill pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to obey the pilot's commands, ignoring instructions not to drink alcohol, shouting and swearing and behaving in a disruptive and anti-social manner.

This court appearance comes hot on the heels of new figures revealing crime and disorder at Scotland's airports has shot up by 41 per cent over the last three years.

Last year, police officers attended 5598 incidents across the country's 16 airports, a significant increase from just 3989 in 2022.

Edinburgh Airport saw an uptick from 2525 reported incidents in 2022 to 3167 last year, while at Glasgow Airport, incidents investigated by the police rose from 1154 to 1526 in the same period.