So the guy lands his helicopter close to a hotel where people are having lunch. He then proceeds to blow over tables and chairs (ignoring the 20 ft in the air bit).
Not exactly giving us pilots a good name is he? A little bit of common sense should have told him that even if he doesn't blow over the tables and chairs he sure as hell is going to annoy people who are having lunch.
I have no sympathy for him at all. As regards the fine, he's a businessman who has his own helicopter or can afford to rent one so a £45,000 fine + fees for what he did will probably not upset him too much.
The CAA was right to prosecute him. Maybe they should introduce a penalty points system similar to that used by the police for driving offences. After so many points and you lose your licence! The speeding one might be difficult to prove though ;-) After all professional drivers have to adhere to the law of the road and suffer the consequences for breaking it why should we be any different with the Rules of the Air.
While the media in their usual way exaggerated the story the pilot was still wrong to do what he did and did in fact plead guilty to the charges.
We shouldn't automatically criticise the CAA for doing their job just because they prosecute a fellow pilot.