Yahoo News Drunk mum of two who attacked cabin crew after being denied six Bloody Marys was flying to rehab clinic
A mum-of-two who attacked three British Airways flight attendants after being denied six Bloody Marys was on her way to a rehab clinic in South Africa.
Emma Langford, 47, had to be handcuffed and strapped to her seat after a drunken rampage on the 11-hour flight which left cabin crew shocked and the aircraft littered with broken plates and glasses.
On Friday, Isleworth Crown Court heard how Langford was travelling from Heathrow to Cape Town on December 6, 2019, with her son to check herself into an alcohol rehab centre.
The court heard how she had “crashed catastrophically” into heavy drinking after the breakdown of her marriage and fears she would see her children put into care.
During the sentencing hearing a judge heard how after 35 minutes after take-off Langford approached members of staff saying she was “thirsty” and demanded a large amount of alcohol.
After her first drink, she returned to her seat but came back and launched a tirade of abuse - asking staff if they could afford her £8,000 seats and calling two female stewards fat.
She then punched customer service manager Matthew Richardson before assaulting another member of cabin crew, Poppy Haines.
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She later shoved a third member of staff, Monique Fogel, against the aircraft door before throwing a tray of plates and glasses to the floor - one of the shards cut Miss Fogel’s leg.
A cabin crew manager said in a statement the mum-of-two “smelt of alcohol” and “puffed her chest out” before starting to punch him in the galley area of the Boeing 747-400.
Prosecuting, Douglas Adams said: “About 30 minutes after take off the defendant came to the galley and she saw raiser her voice and was agitated. She was saying that she had been on the plane for ages and was thirsty and wanted a drink.
“The manager asked the customer not to speak to his crew in such a fashion. He could smell alcohol on her and so asked if she had been drinking but she said no. He gave her a bottle of water and she went back to her seat.
“A few moments later she approached him again with what he said was ‘her chest puffed out.’
“She was saying she had paid £4,000 for a seat and £8,000 for two and asked if he could afford that amount but he said he would not comment.”
Langford has been receiving treatment for mental health issues since the incident and has completed a rehab programme, the court heard.
Langford, of Old Baising, Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty to three charges of assault, one of criminal damage, and one of being drunk on an aircraft, and behaving in a threatening, abusive, insulting and disorderly manner towards cabin crew.
