GANDER, NL – Alcohol is deemed to have played a significant factor in causing Joseph Parsons, of the United Kingdom, to become unruly during a medical diversion to Gander on June 26.
The 30-year-old man faced two counts of unlawfully engaging in behaviour that endangered safety by interfering with the duty of a crew.
In Gander Provincial Court, July 3, one of those counts was withdrawn and Parsons pled guilty to the other.
Parsons became unruly during a British Airways flight from Kingston, Jamaica to Gatwick, England. It was one of two flights to be diverted to Gander International Airport in the early morning hours of June 26 for medical emergencies.
The facts presented to the court indicated that Parsons was agitated and continued to “blame the Jamaicans” for his behaviour. There was a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath.
The flight crew decided to stop serving him alcohol, the court heard, but he kept grabbing more alcohol and attempted to kiss two flight attendants. He was reported to have sworn at passengers and wanted to fight.
On the ground following his arrest, he became irate with RCMP officers and wanted to fight detachment members.
It was noted in court the medical diversion to Gander was not a result of Parsons’ behavior.
In a joint submission on sentencing, both the Crown and defence requested 14 days incarceration, and that any financial restitution as a result of the diversion would not be Parsons’ responsibility.
Furthermore, it was noted, Parsons had already spent eight days in custody, and it was requested a 1.5 credit be applied for a total of 12 days served.
This would leave him with two days left to spend in jail.
When asked if he had anything to say on his own behalf, Parsons expressed remorse for his actions.
“I am embarrassed for my behaviour on the plane,” he said. “I can assure you this will never happen again. The whole experience has been very, very, traumatizing, because I never have been to prison before. I really am sorry to everyone…”
Judge Mark T. Linehan accepted the submission, however, he noted cases of air rage as a result of consumption of alcohol or other substances are becoming all too common.
“Gander regularly sees international travelers arrested who imbibed too much somewhere of something, and generally behave in manners that are foreign to themselves,” he said. “It disrupts holidays and it is also a significant disruption for members of the travelling public.”
For the flight to have been diverted to Gander for a medical emergency is something Linehan suggests Parsons consider himself fortunate to have happened.
“It is very common in these types of situations for the diversion to be solely the fault of the individual who is engaged in any inappropriate behaviour,” said Linehan. “Then the cost of the diversion are born by that person. So it’s not unusual for this court to order $25,000, $40,000, $50,000 (fees).”
Given time served, following his court appearance Parsons was advised he could apply for good-behaviour release through the RCMP because he had already served two-thirds of his sentence.
It wouldn’t be a complete release, if approved, and custody of Parsons would be turned over to Canadian Border Services so a flight home could be arranged for him.
