It's not unknown for the groundstaff to be desperate to pass the problem on to somebody else, very often the flight crew. When we once arrived at JNB for the direct to LHR, one of the check-in supervisors came up and timidly asked the Captain 'We have a passenger who, on the connecting flight down from Harare, got a bit drunk and punched a stewardess in the face! Er......will you take him!' After bursting out laughing we said 'No!' in rather more words than that. I have interviewed and decided to take one of the meekest and apologetic drunks (it's always 'medication' to them) who subsequently turned into a furious objectionable and bizarre monsters at 35,000', demanding to know why he was going to LGW when he wanted to go to BRU.
One thing I learnt over the years- NEVER give them the benefit of the doubt- if they are inebriated, they don't want to fly. Simple.