Wirraway
19th Nov 2004, 13:57
http://icsouthlondon.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/
Air-rage businessman spared jail after girlfriend's suicide
A DRUNKEN businessman brought terror to a long-haul flight when he wrestled with aircrew and tried to force his way into the cockpit.
Michael Dorrn, 29, downed a cocktail of red wine and Valium on a plane from Bangkok to London and then erupted with "air rage" when he was refused more alcohol.
After striking his girlfriend in the face, Dorrn, of Kingswood Avenue, Sanderstead, demanded to see the captain and made a dash for the flight deck. It took five crew members to restrain and handcuff him as terrified passengers looked on.
But the hotel-owner escaped jail this week after a court heard his partner of seven years had committed suicide since the incident on April 24.
He admitted endangering the Qantas Boeing 747 flight from Bangkok to Heathrow and common assault and was fined £700 and ordered to pay £3,300 in costs and compensation.
Judge Hezlett Colgan told Isleworth Crown Court: "Those who behave on aeroplanes to the alarm and distress of crew members and other passengers nearly always go to prison - especially when they endanger the aircraft.
"In the normal way you would go to prison for these offences. They are very serious indeed and the travelling public expects courts to do just that."
But giving him credit for his previous good character and taking account of his medical history, the judge spared Dorrn a prison sentence because of the "devastating effect" the death of his partner must have had on him.
A claim of £55,000 costs by Qantas for flying witnesses to Britain was also dismissed as "ridiculous".
The court had heard that trouble flared when the businessman, who had earlier swallowed valium, reacted angrily when told a fourth bottle of red wine would be his last.
Minutes later, Dorrn, who runs a hotel in Cambodia, struck his girlfriend in the face and then defiantly told aircrew: "She's my wife and I can do what I want with her."
The pair were separated but Dorrn tried to climb over other passengers' seats to get to her and struggled with a flight steward, who received a cut to the face, said Jonathan Wright, prosecuting.
"He was obstructive, making loud demands to see the captain and trying to get to the flight deck," said the prosecutor. "He was kept in a seat until he requested to go to the toilet and then made a dash for the stairs to the flight deck.
"He was physically restrained and when he tried five minutes later he was handcuffed. It took five members of the crew, assisted by passengers, to restrain him."
Dorrn could remember little about the flight and was later "full of remorse", said Nicholas Dunham, defending.
"His partner of seven years, whom he had planned to marry, committed suicide since this incident," he told the court.
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Air-rage businessman spared jail after girlfriend's suicide
A DRUNKEN businessman brought terror to a long-haul flight when he wrestled with aircrew and tried to force his way into the cockpit.
Michael Dorrn, 29, downed a cocktail of red wine and Valium on a plane from Bangkok to London and then erupted with "air rage" when he was refused more alcohol.
After striking his girlfriend in the face, Dorrn, of Kingswood Avenue, Sanderstead, demanded to see the captain and made a dash for the flight deck. It took five crew members to restrain and handcuff him as terrified passengers looked on.
But the hotel-owner escaped jail this week after a court heard his partner of seven years had committed suicide since the incident on April 24.
He admitted endangering the Qantas Boeing 747 flight from Bangkok to Heathrow and common assault and was fined £700 and ordered to pay £3,300 in costs and compensation.
Judge Hezlett Colgan told Isleworth Crown Court: "Those who behave on aeroplanes to the alarm and distress of crew members and other passengers nearly always go to prison - especially when they endanger the aircraft.
"In the normal way you would go to prison for these offences. They are very serious indeed and the travelling public expects courts to do just that."
But giving him credit for his previous good character and taking account of his medical history, the judge spared Dorrn a prison sentence because of the "devastating effect" the death of his partner must have had on him.
A claim of £55,000 costs by Qantas for flying witnesses to Britain was also dismissed as "ridiculous".
The court had heard that trouble flared when the businessman, who had earlier swallowed valium, reacted angrily when told a fourth bottle of red wine would be his last.
Minutes later, Dorrn, who runs a hotel in Cambodia, struck his girlfriend in the face and then defiantly told aircrew: "She's my wife and I can do what I want with her."
The pair were separated but Dorrn tried to climb over other passengers' seats to get to her and struggled with a flight steward, who received a cut to the face, said Jonathan Wright, prosecuting.
"He was obstructive, making loud demands to see the captain and trying to get to the flight deck," said the prosecutor. "He was kept in a seat until he requested to go to the toilet and then made a dash for the stairs to the flight deck.
"He was physically restrained and when he tried five minutes later he was handcuffed. It took five members of the crew, assisted by passengers, to restrain him."
Dorrn could remember little about the flight and was later "full of remorse", said Nicholas Dunham, defending.
"His partner of seven years, whom he had planned to marry, committed suicide since this incident," he told the court.
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