A JUDGE has been told that passengers had to help air crew to restrain a passenger before a flight from the Canary Islands had to be diverted to Cork by the pilot.
The pilot of the charter flight became concerned for the safety of passengers and the aircraft when the man appeared to become delusional and attacked another passenger.
The pilot of the Thomas Cook charter flight decided to divert to Cork airport where Janne Lindroos (22) was handed over to gardaí.
Garda Sgt Pat Lingane told Cork District Court yesterday that Lindroos, Salo, Finland, became delusional on board the flight and was convinced that another passenger was trying to inject him with drugs and kill him.
Lindroos assaulted a person on board the flight but no complaint was made about that to gardaí. They learned from the crew that fellow passengers had to assist cabin crew to restrain and handcuff Mr Lindroos for his own safety and that of other passengers.
Sgt Lingane said gardaí were satisfied that Lindroos had not consumed any alcohol but may have had mental health issues. He had also expressed fears that gardaí were going to kill him while he was in custody and he had previously suffered from a minor depression.
Lindroos was examined by a doctor at Togher Garda station and was found fit to be charged.
He had also been due to be medically assessed on admission to Cork Prison but gardaí had not received any medical report on him from the prison authorities, Sgt Lingane said.
Solicitor Emmet Boyle, defending, said his client was pleading guilty to engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour likely to lead to a breach of the peace on board an aircraft, contrary to the Air Navigation and Transport Act 1973.
Mr Boyle said that Lindroos came from a respectable family in Finland where he was a third-level student.
He had gone with some friends on a sun holiday to the Canaries after Christmas but took ill there and spent two days in hospital.
Some event occurred on the third night on holidays in Tenerife where Lindroos suffered a loss of memory.
About €1,300 was taken from his ATM account while he also believed that someone had entered his hotel room by night.
A local doctor was called and diagnosed Lindroos as being semi-delusional. He was admitted to a local hospital where he spent two nights before the travel company arranged for him to come home four days early. He was flying back to Finland when the incident happened.
Mr Boyle said that Lindroos’s family had travelled from Finland to Cork and were trying to make alternative arrangements to get him home via air ambulance or ferry as he could not take a regular flight as a result of what happened.
Mr Boyle said while the legislation allowed for penalty of three months in jail and/or a fine of up to €700, he did not believe it was a case that merited a custodial sentence.
He asked Judge David Riordan to be as lenient as possible and deal with it by way of fine.
Judge Riordan said it was clearly “a very scary event for passengers on the plane” and the pilot made a judgment call to divert to Cork, but having heard the evidence, he was satisfied the case could be dealt properly without imposing a jail term and he fined Lindroos €500.