A former restaurant manager who was so drunk on a flight that he was sick all over himself has been jailed.
Ali Ozdemir was too intoxicated to open his bag for his passport on the Jet2 flight from Turkey in October last year.
Ozdemir had previously admitted being drunk on an aircraft, was sentenced to three months in prison at Birmingham Crown Court.
Andrew Wallace, prosecuting, explained that police were called to Birmingham airport following a report of an intoxicated passenger on October 19, 2021.
He told the court: “The defendant had vomited on himself and on aircraft seats on the airplane. He was removed from the aircraft. He was observed to have been slumped on his seat, smelt of vomit and liquor and had red eyes.”
In passing sentence, Judge Simon Drew QC said: “…You were on a lengthy flight from Turkey back to this country. When asked for your passport you were simply unable to produce that from your bag which revealed the state that you were in.
“You did not offer any aggression to anybody on the plane nor is it the case that you were rude to them. The fact is that people who are drunk on an aircraft present a serious risk to anyone on the aircraft…”
Syed Ahmed, defending, said Ozdemir’s behaviour had not caused any concern, he had not been aggressive and nobody had been obliged to move seats.
He said his head had been resting against the window and he had fallen asleep. He said he believed that some of what happened on the aircraft was due to an upset stomach and that he had also been under stress as a result of getting divorced.
He added: “He was remorseful from the outset and has no previous convictions. He is a divorcee and was the manager at Cielo in Brindley Place which has recently shut down.”
