A British woman has been jailed for going on a drunken rampage on an Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi to Manchester after asking men to join her in the “mile-high club,” according to reports.
Demi Burton, 20, who boarded the May 9, 2019, flight while already sloshed, continued to drink wine until the flight attendants told her she could no longer order alcohol, according to the Mirror.
By then, she had already gotten so drunk that she propositioned several men to get frisky in the lavatory while cruising at 30,000 feet.
But when told that she could no longer drink booze, the unhinged woman kicked, bit and head-butted the crew during her four-hour blowout, according to the report.
“You may as well just land the plane now then!” Burton shouted at the crew and unleashed her attack as her 259 fellow passengers looked on in horror.
An anesthesiologist who tried to restrain Burton was bitten on the elbow and head-butted — saying the struggle was “worse than anything he’d seen” in the emergency room, the Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
Other passengers also were bitten and kicked before six crew members and others finally took her down, restrained her and handed her over to authorities when they touched down.
“It was a stressful situation but whilst I managed to remain calm and professional, it’s not acceptable for crew members to be treated this way and not fair on the other passengers to witness things like this,” flight attendant Fouzia Naim said in a statement, according to the Telegraph.
“As a result of her being verbally abusive towards me and assaulting, I couldn’t eat or drink anything whilst the flight was ongoing,” Naim added.
Burton, who had been traveling home after a three-month trip to visit family in Australia, claimed she had been drinking because of a fear of flying.
Her defense lawyer Martin Callery said: “She is thoroughly ashamed of herself and because she is remorseful, she is utterly embarrassed at the way she behaved. It is completely out of character as far as she is concerned.
“She went to Australia to get away from her family who have behaved towards her from her early years in a very controlling and very abusive way,” he said.
Prosecutor Claire Brocklebank said Burton appeared to be drunk even before getting on the flight.
“She started making a number of inappropriate sexual comments to a number of male passengers on the flight,” Brocklebank said.
“Two in particular remember hearing comments and at first they laughed it off but it then became more and more increasingly inappropriate and she asked them to join the mile high club,” she continued.
“Both tried to end conversation with her but she carried on. One said he felt quite shocked by her comments and people around her started to ask her to be quiet as others could hear,” Brocklebank added.
Judge John Edwards, who sentenced Burton to six months in jail, said: “Good order on any flight, in particular a long distance one, is essential and those who undermine that put that at risk by behaving in such crass way.
“I’m afraid you have to be dealt with in a way that might deter others,” he said.