ASHERIFF has called for a rethink on security issues relating to in-flight drinks after a drunken passenger claimed to be "a worker of Osama bin Laden".
Paul Canning, 20, of Whiting Road, Wemyss Bay, Inverclyde, caused so much alarm to fellow passengers and cabin crew that police were summoned to deal with him after the Emirates flight from Dubai touched down at Glasgow AirportonMay18.
Depute fiscal Edith Forrest yesterday told Paisley Sheriff Court that Canning had been shouting and swearing at other passengers and was under the influence of alcohol.
Flight attendants were so concerned at his conduct that they alerted police and asked them to attend as passengers disembarked from the aircraft.
By the time officers arrived, Canning had been intercepted atthe immigration check-point in the arrivals hall and was sitting in an agitated state as other passengers were being processed.
"He seemed to be aggrieved and was complaining that he was being forced to wait while others were being attended to, " she said.
Canning was warned to calm down but reacted angrily, telling police: "I am a terrorist - a worker of Osama bin Laden."
He was immediately arrested due to the nature of the comments. The court was told that, instead of seeing sense, Canning "continued to rant" and was removed from the terminal building and taken to Paisley's Mill Street police HQ.
Canning, who was 19 at the time of the incident, is employed in Dubai, said a defence agent. He was fined GBP2500.
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