Brawling Leeds passenger downed vodka then fought with man and bit officer just before Jet2 flight take-off
He was jailed and handed lifetime ban from airline
A drunken thug downed a bottle of vodka as a flight waited to take off from Leeds Bradford Airport, before scrapping with another passenger and then with arriving police.
Nathan Cooper punched the female officer called to the Jet2 plane on the Tarmac, and bit another to the arm as they wrestled to remove him from the fully-boarded plane.
The 44-year-old bricklayer admitted charges of affray and being drunk on an aircraft during a sentencing hearing at Leeds Crown Court this morning.
Prosecutor Louise Pryke said the flight from Leeds Bradford to Chania in Crete was due to take off at 4pm on July 24 last year.
The aircraft was only waiting for the green light to depart, but take off had been delayed for 30 minutes.
Cooper downed three-quarters of a bottle of duty-free vodka in that time and became “obviously intoxicated”.
He then began to fight with another passenger and was warned by cabin crew, who asked for his passport, but Cooper appeared not to understand due to his drunkenness.
They continued to fight despite attempts to split them up. Cooper was also aiming punches and kicks at seats and lockers.
Cooper was forced to sit on a fold-away jump seat but was so drunk, he fell off, Ms Pryke said.
When police arrived, Cooper swore and hurled abuse at them, repeatedly calling them “maggots”.
As they tried to put him in handcuffs, he swung at the female officer and caught her with one of the punches.
He was forced up against the aircraft door, but fell back and then bit an officer to the arm, breaking the skin and causing it to bleed.
Bodycam footage from the police was played to the judge in which Cooper could be heard slurring and repeatedly swearing.
The plane eventually departed more than two hours late and with a new cabin crew after the first team were left badly shaken.
Cooper, of Dene Park, Harrogate, has since been banned from Jet2 for life. He has dozens of previous offences to his name, including eight for violence.
Mitigating, Tom Doyle, said it had been more than 16 years since Cooper was last in trouble.
He also said the risk to others was lower because the plane was still on the ground.
Mr Doyle said Cooper was “in the absolute worst throes” of his alcohol addiction at the time.
He said he was now attending AA meetings. Cooper worked as a bricklayer but is unable to work at the moment because of an arm injury.
The judge, Recorder Taryn Turner told Cooper: “These were serious offences, committed in a situation where discipline and compliancy are essential.
“It’s a confined and sensitive environment.
“I have been shown three minutes of footage from the body-worn camera and it makes for unhappy viewing.”
She told Cooper that custody was inevitable, handing him a 15-month sentence, telling him: “There’s a clear need for punishment, and for deterrents and for the message to go out.”