Unison reports
A NEW York restaurant manager who assaulted one passenger and racially abused others on a flight from New York to Athens was given a three-month jail sentence at Galway District Court yesterday.
Greek national Panagiotis Genovezos (36) was also rude and abusive to the captain of Delta Airlines Flight 120 from JFK airport in the early hours of yesterday morning and threatened a US Federal Air Marshal.
Mr Genovezos, of 87th Street, Brooklyn, who has worked in the US for more than 20 years, was drunk at the time and eventually had to be restrained by the air marshal.
The defendant pleaded guilty to three charges of being drunk on board an aircraft, engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour and causing serious offence or annoyance to the other passengers.
Air Marshal Mark C Bailer told the court that about an hour-and-a-half into the flight he was advised that one of the passengers was harassing others, calling them Jews and making vulgar statements.
When the captain approached Mr Genovezos, he said "
you" and referred to some of the men in front of him on the plane as "fags and homosexuals".
Air Marshal Bailer said he had been a law enforcement officer for 10 years and he recognised the accused as having slurred speech, red eyes and also had a strong smell of alcohol from his breath. The captain then diverted to Shannon.
When a passenger asked him to sit down, Mr Genovezos raised his elbow and struck him in the face. Mr Bailer had to restrain him. At Shannon, Mr Genovezos was handed over to gardai.
Mr Genovezos was sentenced to three months in jail and fined €300. However, later he was releaased on bail pending an appeal.