A man whose drunken behaviour caused a flight to divert to the island was this morning fined in Magistrates’ Court.

Craig Dibby, from Leeds, admitted being drunk, acting recklessly and behaving in a disorderly manner on a TUI Airways flight on Friday.

Dibby, 32, apologised for his actions, saying he was drinking before the flight to celebrate and did not remember much of the incident.

He said: “I don’t drink usually, but because it was my birthday and I was on vacation, for some stupid reason I thought I would start drinking at 9.30am.

“I’m not a violent individual. My partner and my daughter are waiting for me in Cancun.”

The court heard Dibby was a passenger on a flight from Manchester, UK, to Cancun, Mexico on Friday afternoon.

Airline staff noticed him drinking heavily from a bottle of French Vanilla Vodka that he had brought on the plane.

At some point during the fight, he began to argue with his partner, loudly calling her a tramp and grabbing her by her neck.

He then cursed at a passenger who interjected.

The airline staff took the vodka from him, but he continued to loudly curse, demanding they return the bottle.

The pilot diverted the flight to Bermuda, where officers boarded the plane and arrested Dibby.

As he was being removed, he loudly told his daughter and partner to leave the plane with him, but they refused.

The court heard the maximum fine for being drunk on an aircraft was £1,000, while acting recklessly and behaving in a disorderly manner both carry fines of up to £2,500.

Dibby apologised, asking the court for leniency, but magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo said Dibby had terrorised his family and fellow passengers.

He added: “That is not acceptable at all, and that comes with a price.”

Mr Tokunbo fined Dibby a total of $2,500, ordering that he pay the full fine before being allowed to leave the island.”

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