A man who punched a flight captain in the face at Dublin airport when asked to leave an aircraft because he was too drunk to travel will be assessed for his suitability for community service.
Shane O'Flynn (23), Deanrock Estate, Togher, Co Cork, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Capt Karl Murphy of Aer Arann on August 14th, 2004. He also admitted assaulting aircraft dispatcher Tony Madden and engaging in threatening, insulting or abusive behaviour.
O'Flynn, who has no previous convictions, told Judge Katherine Delahunt that he had been refused legal aid and was unable to pay his legal fees as he had been unemployed for eight months. He said he was willing to pay compensation and had written letters of apology to the injured parties.
Garda Peter Dunphy earlier told Kerida Naidoo, prosecuting, that Mr Madden noticed O'Flynn and another man were drunk but allowed them to board an Aer Arann flight to Cork which was due to leave at 3.10pm.
Mr Madden then told Capt Murphy that they were disruptive and not fit to travel. Capt Murphy told Mr Madden to ask the two men to leave the aircraft but they refused.
Capt Murphy approached them and said the flight would not leave with them on board. They got out of their seats, walked to the back of the aircraft and demanded a refund. O'Flynn told Capt Murphy that he would find out where he lived and set his kids on fire and then punched him in the face and spat in his face.
The two men then ran off the aircraft followed by Mr Madden who saw them head towards another aircraft and asked them to stop. Garda Dunphy said O'Flynn knocked Mr Madden down before he was arrested by airport police. They described him as belligerent and verbally abusive.
O'Flynn had said that he had seen "an Arab-looking person" on the flight and had joked that he was a member of al-Qaeda and would blow up the aircraft.