Drunk couple abused cabin crew and spat on passenger forcing Jet2 Edinburgh to Turkey flight to divert

A drunk woman caused a holiday flight to Turkey to be diverted to Germany after she acted aggressively and spat on a passenger.

Courtney Maich, 27, was being hauled of the plane by German police officers when she launched the “disgraceful and disgusting” assault on the mother of a child on board the Jet2 flight.

Maich and her partner Alannah O’Neill, 28, had taken off from Edinburgh Airport and were on route to Dalaman on their first ever trip on a plane when the pair began drinking their own alcohol.

Courtney Maich and Alannah O’Neill Outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court. Alexander Lawrie

The couple, from Dundee, refused to stop shouting and swearing when repeatedly asked to by cabin crew and Maich was handed a written warning by the captain about her behaviour.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told their behaviour forced the captain to divert to Cologne around 90 minutes after takeoff, where Maich was escorted from the flight.

Jet2 paid out £27,370 in compensation

The court heard passengers were grounded for three hours before the plane was allowed to continue to its destination and a return flight to Edinburgh had to be cancelled the following day.

Jet2 was forced to pay out £27,370.53 to put passengers and staff up in a hotel overnight and the return flight eventually landed back in Edinburgh 16 hours late.

The court was told the airline had now served a civil action on both women in an attempt to recoup its losses.

Woman refused to move to allocated seat

Courtney Maich outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court. Alexander Lawrie

Fiscal depute Eilidh Gunn said Maich was asked to move as she was in the wrong seat but refused and became aggressive towards cabin crew shortly after takeoff at around 4pm on October 8 last year.

She was travelling with a larger group and drunken arguments were said to have broken out between the parties including O’Neill. The decision was taken to divert to Cologne.

“German police then boarded the flight and in the process of removing Maich off the plane she spat at one of the passengers who was with her husband and seven-year-old son,” the prosecutor said.

“The spit landed on her body, and she also shouted ‘f*** you all’ towards the passengers.”

Mobile phone footage of Maich being arrested and escorted off the flight was shared widely on social media.

The pair appeared in the dock for sentencing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday, September 23, after previously pleading guilty to various offences last month.

Arrest warrant issued for third woman

Co-accused Natasha Gilligan, 49, from Dundee, had not guilty pleas accepted by the Crown and fourth accused Michaela Hawes, 35, from Dundee, has a non-appearance warrant out for her arrest.

Sheriff Peter Anderson said the couple’s behaviour had “catastrophic consequences” for the other passengers and they had “ruined the start of a holiday for a large number of people”.

The sheriff added: “All of this because you couldn’t control your drink.

“This was utterly disgraceful conduct and cannot be allowed to happen again.”

Maich and O’Neill were sentenced to a 12-month supervision order, ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work and both will be tagged and have to stay at home between 8pm and 7an – Maich for four months and O’Neill for three.

Maich was also ordered to pay £200 in compensation for what the sheriff described as a “disgraceful and disgusting” assault.

Maich pled guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting, swearing, acting aggressively and uttering threats of violence and offensive remarks to other passengers on the aircraft between Edinburgh and Cologne.

She also admitted to assaulting a woman by spitting on her body.

Maich and O’Neill both admitted to a charge of failing to obey the pilot’s commands, ignore instructions not to drink alcohol, shout and swear and behave in a disruptive and anti-social manner.

The court appearance comes just weeks after new figures show crime and disorder at Scotland’s airports has rocketed by 41% over the last three years.

Last year, police officers attended 5,598 incidents last year across the country’s airports compared to just 3,989 in 2022.

Edinburgh Airport saw an increase from 2,525 reported incidents in 2022 to 3,167 last year, while at Glasgow Airport incidents investigated by the police rose from 1,154 to 1,526 in the same period.