Anthony Morrison-Taylor had consumed too much alcohol when he became abusive on a flight to Newcastle
Anthony Morrison-Taylor(Image: ChronicleLive)
A foul-mouthed plane passenger who was abusive towards an air steward when he was refused alcohol during a flight has been hit in the pocket. Anthony Morrison-Taylor drew the attention of cabin crew on an easyJet flight from Bristol to Newcastle in February 2024 because he appeared intoxicated.
When the time came that passengers could buy drinks, Morrison-Taylor was told he was not being allowed to have more alcohol and he responded in an abusive way. When the reason for the refusal was repeated, he said: “You can all f*** off, I’m getting alcohol and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
He went on to say: “You are all a bunch of *****”. The air steward contacted police through air traffic control and Morrison-Taylor was arrested when the plane landed at Newcastle Airport. The court heard Morrison-Taylor’s abusive behaviour happened during a time of turbulence on the flight.
In a victim impact statement, the air steward said he was left feeling shocked. He said his role involves looking after customer safety and added: “That’s all I was doing. Unfortunately this type of incident is happening more and more.”
Morrison-Taylor, 44, of Cellar Hill Close, Newbottle Village, near Houghton-le-Spring, pleaded guilty to a public order offence. Judge Gavin Doig deferred sentence for six months last September on the condition he didn’t commit any further alcohol-related offences. He told him back then: “You have convictions for being drunk and disorderly and excess alcohol so I’m worried about your use of alcohol.”
As he abided by the condition and has been in no further trouble, he has now been fined £500, must pay the air steward who bore the brunt of his abuse £750 and has to pay £750 towards the costs of prosecuting him.
Judge Doig told him: “You pleaded guilty to a public order offence and that was an offence committed in early 2024 on an aircraft. You had too much to drink and were abusive to cabin crew who were simply trying to protect those on the aircraft and ensure good behaviour.
“As you are well aware, that was shocking behaviour and deserving of punishment. But you are a 44-year-old man and don’t have a history of offending and I sincerely hope we don’t see you again, and there’s a good chance of that.”
Peter Sabiston, defending, said previously it was an isolated incident and said Morrison-Taylor is hard-working and provided character references.
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