Nicola Dooley, 38, was found with a three quarters empty bottle of strong alcohol after she was ‘aggressive on a plane and ‘didn’t know’ where she was when the plane landed
A drunk mum who swigged from a bottle of alcohol that she picked up in duty free “did not know where she was” when her flight landed.
Nicola Dooley was found with a bottle of liquor three-quarters empty after she became a “real concern” to airline staff, Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard. The mum had been put at the back of the plane and the police were alerted about her behaviour on a short flight from Dublin to Manchester. The 38-year-old was so drunk she didn’t know where she was when she was when police officers spoke to her after the flight.
Prosecuting, Zahra Khan said officers at Manchester Airport were informed of reports of an “aggressive” passenger on an Aer Lingus flight, which was due to arrive on December 22, 2024. Dooley, from Huddersfield, also used “abusive language” towards other passengers on the plane, the court heard.
When she arrived at Manchester, it became “obvious” to police that Dooley was drunk and she couldn’t find her ID documents. The court heard Dooley told cops that she “didn’t know she was in Manchester”, and said she had “missed her flight”, according to Manchester Evening News.
Cops then discovered the mum had a duty free bag which contained three, one litre bottles of spirits – one of these bottles had just a quarter of the alcohol left. Dooley pleaded guilty to being drunk on an aircraft.
Defending, Megan Edwards said the mum had experienced “extreme shame, embarrassment and remorse”. She added that the defendant has no previous convictions.
Ms Edwards said no members of staff or passengers were willing to make a witness statement and added that sending Dooley to prison would have a “significant harmful impact” on her children.
The barrister told the court Dooley had been travelling to and from her native of Ireland frequently at the time, to facilitate contact between her children and her partner, who still lives in the country, and added that the mum had moved to the UK months prior.
Dooley was sentenced to three months, suspended for 12 months and was ordered to carry out 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days. Sentencing, Judge Tina Landale told Dooley: “Your behaviour was clearly of real concern because the staff on board requested the police to attend on landing to arrest you.
“It was reported that there was an aggressive passenger onboard who was heavily intoxicated. But it is relevant that not a single passenger or a single crew member has chosen to make a witness statement.
“Your behaviour demonstrates that you were extremely drunk. You couldn’t find your ID documents and you didn’t even know where you were.”