University Lecturer Quits Job After Drunkenly Slapping Policewoman For Kicking Her Off Plane

A university lecturer has quit her job following drunken antics on board a Ryanair flight.

Leah Wild, 44, taught sociology at the University of Bath until the incident in April last year, which began with duty free Jack Daniels and brandy at Bristol airport.

The flight to Faro, Portugal, was stuck on the tarmac for three hours thanks to striking French air traffic controllers, so the mum-of-three and friend Reuben Crowe, 23, knocked back more booze.

The court heard that, unfortunately for the plane’s 182 other passengers, they were talking loudly and listening to noisy music while “clearly drunk”.

The cabin crew told the captain and he gave them 10 minutes to calm down, adding that they would be removed from the aircraft if they failed to comply.

When the pair refused police were called and two female officers boarded the plane, telling them to stop drinking or face arrest.

Instead, the pair started shouting and swearing, and another passenger got so distressed they had to leave the plane.

Crowe had to be restrained in his seat and handcuffed as he was arrested, while Wild began guzzling from a bottle of brandy.

Wild was grabbed from behind by a policewoman, and as she was marched down the aisle to the exit, she slapped the officer in the face.

Neil Treharne, prosecutor, said: “When the policewoman asked what was wrong she was answered with abuse.

"They were waving their arms around, tossing their heads, swearing and were clearly drunk. The pilot was not happy to take them.”

Bristol Crown Court heard that Wild, who had been at the University of Bath since 2003, quit her post as director of studies immediately after the incident.

Before that she was a visiting lecturer at the University of the West of England and taught social theory courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Wild’s updated Facebook entry gives her current city as Twatt, Shetland Islands, and her hometown as Asse, Belgium.

Under the heading ‘other places lived’ she had put Fanny, West Virginia and Bald Knob, Arkansas.

Wild pleaded guilty to being drunk on a plane and assaulting a police officer.

Crowe admitted being drunk on a plane and obstructing a police officer.

They were each sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to complete 80 hours community work.

The pair, both from Stroud, Gloucstershire, who knew each other but were not going on the same holiday, were also banned from Bristol Airport for a year.

Wild was ordered to pay £500 compensation and Crowe, who is currently unemployed and lives with his parents, was told to pay £250.

[Credit: SWNS]