"Who the f*** do you think you are? Bruce Willis?" a drunken passenger screamed as he tried to fight off an off-duty policeman on a flight between New York and Belfast in March an Irish court was told yesterday.
Off-duty Northern Irish police officer Terry Spence eventually subdued Francis Steenson after a fight that saw passengers, some with young children, flee from their seats to the back of the aircraft as the two rolled around on the floor.
Eventually Spence was able to handcuff Steenson and he was restrained in a row of seats that was clear of passengers.
Previous to that the inebriated Steenson, who had been drinking for 24 hours, had abused passengers, physically attacked cabin crew and tried to open the emergency door of the plane while in flight.
The trouble began just an hour into the flight when an already drunk Steenson -- began walking up and down the aisle and screaming shouting abuse at other passengers, telling them to "get out" of his seat,
Cabin crew asked him to calm down but he physically attacked then and started throwing drinks at other passengers. Just over an hour out from Belfast the 55-year-old, Belfast native , then jumped up screaming that he wanted to get off the flight and tried to open the emergency door, which was located close to him.
He then hit out at a female and male member of the cabin crew, trying to restrain him. It was then that the off-duty police officer acted.
The court heard that Francis Steenson, had been drinking for 24 hours straight when he boarded the Continental Airlines flight from Newark airport on March 26.
He continued to be verbally abusive to passengers and crew until the plane touched down in Belfast and he was escorted off by Airport Police.
District Judge Robert Alcorn told Steenson that he should never be allowed to board another flight again. "At 40,000 feet, in a confined space of an aircraft, you left a lot of people terrified. If I had any way of stopping you I would stop you flying for the rest of your life. If I had been a passenger I would not have been best pleased, having paid that fare, to have to put up with that for five hours," he said.
His defence lawyer told the court that Steenson is an admitted alcoholic who travelled to the US to see his girlfriend. He said Steenson since the incident he has been attending Alcoholic Anonymous in a bid to "turn his life around".
The judge sentenced Steenson to five months in jail, but suspended it for three years "in recognition of the efforts you are making to turn your life around". He warned him, however: "If you commit any offences, it doesn't matter what they are, during the next three years, you will be jailed for the five months you have clocked up.
"It is my policy to put suspended sentences into operation, it doesn't matter to me one bit. If you behave yourself then you will not have to go to prison. "I hope you will be able to turn your life around."
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.jacersisityourself | Jul 09, 2010, 07:28 PM EDT
If the guy hadn’t issued that funny line “... are you Bruce Willis?” this event would not have made ICentral’s pages. But it is a serious matter. A Very Serious Matter – because it shows up once again how some drug-affected people are affected by imaginative events displayed in movies, violent computer games and all that is potrayed to be lived upon. There are some (many thousands of?) people who live in the world produced by imaginative entertainment-subject producers and even in the world produced by say, hair and clothes stylists, who think this the way to live. The frightening part is that they may (and do sometimes) play out their fantasies in a real way with horrific consequences for humanity at large. Image is everything, so “they” say – reality is what “they” know nothing of. Dangerous stuff, eh?
beachline | Jul 09, 2010, 10:02 AM EDT
Continental Airline employees should not have let him board the plane in the first place. I guess it is the old story of pass the buck and let someone else handle him. He endangered the lives of all the people on board and should have served jail time.
IrishAndProud | Jul 09, 2010, 01:23 AM EDT
I was laughing, reading WoundedKnee's post. Not because I'm mocking him/her, but because I know the feeling, perfectly. "Fussy Kid", as he/she's known, has been following me around for most of my life, showing up on flights, in supermarkets, you name it. The kid seemingly doesn't age, never really goes away, and exists only to make your life all the more complete, wherever you are. And the PARENTS (or parent, singular)...geeeez! Pushing him all nonchanantly through the store and utterly ignoring him whilst he screams at the top of his lungs, making the biggest horse's a$$ out of them possible.
Next...? | Jul 08, 2010, 08:58 PM EDT
Trying to open a door during a flight is like threatning to shoot someone in the head. You know how many younger kids would be "curious".
WoundedKnee | Jul 08, 2010, 08:06 PM EDT
I have no sympathy for this guy. However, in general, drunks on a flight (and there are very few of them any more--not even me) annoy me less than people who let their small children run up & down the aisle, or scream for the six or seven hours needed to get to Europe. I recently took a flight from Savannah GA to Ireland. On the flight from Savannah to Newark there was a child behind me who cried and shouted continuously. When I got off at Newark I said to myself "At least that little creep won't be on my next flight". But he was!! And he screamed for six and a half hours from Newark to Dublin. I felt like punching his mother (no father to be found).
Kevin325 | Jul 08, 2010, 03:44 PM EDT
Continental should be reprimanded for allowing the genius to board the plane. Congrats to Officer Spence for subduing Steeson.
AmAncINED | Jul 08, 2010, 02:18 PM EDT
Wake up Continental! You don't let a drunk get on a flight in the first place. Ya might want to get some tips from United who prevented a drunken Jonathan Rhys Meyers from boarding. If Steenson had been able to open that door, he would've been a murderer of many innocent people. He should've had some jail time to think about that.
hyattsville | Jul 08, 2010, 12:14 PM EDT
I don't believe a suspended sentence is adequate in this instance. He should have been locked up for at least 12 months as his behaviour could have had really serious consequences. Can you imagine the discomfort of having to share a flight with this selfish lout? Most people don’t like to fly at the best of times. I’d say alcoholism is the least of his problems.
McNamara31 | Jul 08, 2010, 11:53 AM EDT
Tried to open a door in flight? This guy should be sitting in jail reading a AAA book.