Aerial relief: Passenger fined £1,000 for urinating in Air India plane
A passenger on an Air India flight from India to Birmingham has been fined £1,000 for pulling down his trousers and urinating in the aisle after drinking alcohol, shocking other passengers and crew.
Jinu Abraham, 39, was aggressive to cabin crew and had to be restrained until the flight landed on January 19. He was fined £300 at the Birmingham Crown Court, and ordered to pay £500 as compensation, a victim surcharge of £30, and £185 in costs.
John Cardiff, the prosecuting lawyer, told the court that Abraham had boarded the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner with his 10-year-old son, reports from Birmingham said.
“About 40 minutes prior to landing he removed his trousers and stood in the aisle. He pulled down his boxer shorts, exposing his buttocks and then began urinating on the floor and seat of the aircraft,” Cardiff said.
“He was restrained by crew with plastic handcuffs and seat belts for the rest of the flight and was arrested on landing.”
Abraham later said he had drunk two whiskeys, that he was on anti-depressants, and that he could not remember anything about his actions, the Birmingham Mail reported.
Alan Newport, defending lawyer, said the defendant and his wife, who had been married for 11 years, worked for the National Health Service. His wife is a theatre nurse.
He said Abraham had been on medication after one of his children died at birth and that his wife had returned from India on a separate flight with their 15- month-old child.
“Unfortunately because of a mix up at the airport in India his medication had been placed in the hold. He was without medication and nervous about flying and was concerned about his wife’s welfare,” Newport said.
“He effectively tried to self-medicate and it went dramatically wrong, not just for him, but the passengers on that flight. Fortunately no one was injured and the flight was able to land without an emergency request.”