A man who caused chaos on a flight to Manchester has been jailed.
Drunken Benjamin Gallon abused Ryanair staff and passengers on the flight from Morocco to Manchester on December 1, last year. The 37-year-old was told he could only board the plane if he didn't drink anymore alcohol.
Staff confiscated his duty free, however, he secretly continued drinking from a plastic bottle believed to be filled with vodka. Tom Challinor, prosecuting, told Manchester Crown Court Gallon began singing loudly on the plane.
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When asked to stop by other passengers, he shouted back: "F*** the police." He asked a woman of her friend: "He's gay, isn't he?" Mr Challinor said: "The defendant began to abuse the complainant's sexuality and gender. He stated 'there are only two genders', before claiming the LGBTQ+ movement 'sexualised children'."
Gallon was then described as becoming aggressive, the MEN reports he said: "It's all your fault, you f*****" and "The likes of you would rape my kids." The man and women were moved seats by cabin crew in an attempt to defuse the situation, but Gallon began abusing staff.
He said: "You're a Jamaican, you like n*****." Towards the end of the four-hour flight, Gallon was asked to move to the front of the plane to make it easier for the police to get him off the flight. He refused.
Another passenger said: "Come on mate, just move so we can leave" and Gallon replied: "Shut the f*** up or I'll headbutt you." He eventually moved, before telling the man he earlier insulted: "It's your fault I'm getting arrested, you p***."
Gallon was removed by police once the flight had landed in Manchester Airport. He said he was "disgusted" with himself when later confronted with mobile phone footage. He has 14 previous convictions for 22 offences – including for being drunk and disorderly; violence; and breach of court orders.
Mitigating, Stuart Neale read out a letter from Gallon. It read: "I have nothing but remorse. There is no place in our society for this behaviour and it's filled me with the utmost shame. Nobody has the right to make anybody feel the way I made those good folk feel that day. I am disgusted with myself – there is no excuse for behaviour of this sort."
Mr Neale said Gallon had suffered a spinal injury. He was on strong painkillers, but they didn't work, so he turned to heroin.
He said his client treated the holiday as a 'detox', but struggled to sleep. He drank too much at the airport in Morocco, the court heard. Describing his behaviour as "disgraceful, volatile and completely unacceptable", Recorder Katie Jones jailed Gallon, of Haslam Close, Bradford, for four months.
He previously pleaded guilty to entering an aircraft when drunk; and using racially abusive behaviour. She said: "This was a sustained period of dreadful behaviour."
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