A father’s drunken pre-takeoff rampage forced a plane to turn around on the runway after he called a member of cabin crew a ‘d***head’.
Lewis Howarth, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, staggered around the aisles hurling verbal abuse at a stewardess who had asked him to put his seatbelt on.
When armed police then tried to carry him off the aricraft the 36-year-old was heard yelling ‘I will bite you, you c***’ before attempting to sink his teeth into an officer.
The Jet2 flight, from Manchester to Turkey, had already been delayed for 90 minutes prior to when Howarth’s outbust began.
As two offficers boarded the plane the father-of-two shouted: ‘F*** off you pr***’ and had to be tackled to the floor amid fears he would headbutt one of them.
He was then carried off the aircraft to cheers from his fellow passengers as he tried to lunge at them with his head.
Once on the air bridge he also yelled: ‘I will bite you, you c***’ whilst lashing out with his legs, kicking one officer in the face.
The fracas delayed take-off as Howarth – who runs a building company – was bundled into a wheelchair and taken to a waiting police van.
Lewis Howarth staggered around the aisles before hurling verbal abuse at an stewardess. When armed police then tried to carry him off the aricraft the 36-year-old was heard yelling ‘I will bite you, you c***’ Pictured: Howarth on a subsequent flight just a day after his drunken outburst
The Jet2 flight, from Manchester to for Dalaman, Turkey, had already been delayed for 90 minutes before Howarth’s outbust began. He subsequently boarded another flight with a different airline to Turkey the following day where he joined his partner and children. Pictured: Howarth in Turkey
He subsequently boarded another flight with a different airline to Turkey the following day where he joined his partner and children – and even posted a series of flippant Facebook messages about his arrest saying: ‘Right, let’s try this again. Just a coke this time,’ accompanied by a laughing emoji.
Howarth appeared to enjoy his sunny getaway and could be seen riding a jet-ski, taking selfies with camels and driving a beach buggy in social media snaps.
At Tameside magistrates court, Howarth was told he faced up to two years in jail after he admitted being drunk on an aircraft, common assault of an emergency worker and assault by beating.
He was remanded to crown court for sentencing next month after JPs deemed their sentencing powers as insufficient.
The incident occurred on August 29 this year when Howarth boarded Flight LS921 at Manchester Airport after drinking heavily in the departure lounge.
Gareth Hughes, prosecuting, said: ‘The fight was due to take off at 4.15pm but was delayed until about 5.45pm.
‘A stewardess became aware of the defendant as he appeared to be extremely intoxicated.
‘She approached the male and asked him to take a seat and put his seat belt on. He tried to but struggled due to his intoxicated nature.
‘He was slurring his words and swearing, he had dilated pupils and his coordination was very poor and he was unable to put a seat belt on.
‘She made the pilot aware of the situation and over the next 10 minutes she continued to speak to the defendant. But he appeared to continue to be disruptive.
‘He got out of his seat and called her a ‘d***head’ and was asked to sit down and told he could be removed.
‘But he stood up and got in her face and she believed he was trying to intimidate her. By this time they were already making their way to the runway from the gate but as the pilot heard news of the situation he wanted the male to be removed from the flight.
‘They then taxi-ed back to the gate to wait for the police to arrive. Police met the plane and and the cabin crew explained the defendant was not listening to the safety briefing and swearing at the passengers.
‘The officers were met by applause indicating the poor behaviour of the defendant prior to their arrival.
‘The defendant was at the back of the aircraft. He stood up but immediately stumbled on his feet having to hold on to a seat. His eyes were red, his face was red. He was clearly extremely drunk.
‘One of the officers tried to walk him down the aisle but when a PC Ecob said, ‘Do you need a hand?’ the defendant said, ‘F*** off you pr***.’
‘The officer asked if he was directing that to him or to a passenger and he simply says ‘Yeah.’
Here Howarth can be seen taking a selfie with a camel in Turkey. At Tameside magistrates court, Howarth was told he faced up to two years in jail after he admitted being drunk on an aircraft, common assault of an emergency worker and assault by beating
‘As he was aggressive and not going to be walked the officer took him by the scruff of the neck while the other officer held the defendant’s arms from behind. But he lunges his head forwards to passengers still sitting in their seats.
‘The officer was concerned that he was going to head butt him so he took his legs from underneath him and they carried him out of the aircraft and laid him out on the air bridge in handcuffs.
‘The officers found a nearby wheelchair to take him to a lift to the airfield where there was a police van waiting.
‘He was heard to say ‘I will bite you, you c***’ and attempted to bite PC Ben Morton on the hand.
‘The other officers took control of his head to stop him from continuing to try to bite him. He was also lashing out with his legs and kicked PC Ecob in the mouth with his feet.
‘He did not receive an injury or serious injury as the defendant was not wearing any shoes, he had only socks on his feet – although it did cause temporary pain to the mouth and teeth. The officer then struck him to the stomach to prevent further assault.’
In a statement PC Morton said: ‘The defendant was irresponsible and gave no thought to the safety of other passengers or the police officers he was resisting in a confined space.
‘I will never understand why people think behaviour like this is appropriate. It never can be justified. ‘
Howarth had previous convictions for assault on police and drug driving. His lawyer Jon Mail said: ‘There is a certain amount of inevitability of the matter going to the crown court.’
Bailing Howarth, JP Brendan Harte told him: ‘We feel that with this reckless and erratic and quite frankly dangerous behaviour on the plane.
‘Whilst it had not taken off, it was still taxi-ing and there was potential for harm that is not describable.
‘It is just fortunate that the pilot took the decision that he did because the anxiety of the other passengers and crew must have been high.’
At the end of the hearing, Howarth spoke from the dock to say: ‘It won’t be happening again. I do not even drink anymore.’
A spokesperson for Jet 2 said: ‘On 29th August this year, our highly trained crew onboard flight LS921 from Manchester to Dalaman elected to return the aircraft to stand before take-off, so that police could offload Mr Howarth, due to his appalling behaviour.
‘As a family friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive passenger behaviour, and we can confirm that Mr Howarth has been banned from flying with us for life.’
