Passenger fined for biting flight attendants
A British charity worker whose Dominican Republic-bound plane was diverted here after she bit flight attendants has been made to pay for the crime.Carol Close was on a Thomson Airlines flight from Manchester, England when she attacked two flight attendants in a drunken rage last November. The pilot became so concerned he issued a Mayday call to Bermuda, asking to make an emergency landing.The UK’s Daily Mail has reported that Close was handed a six-month sentence, suspended for 18 months.She was also ordered to pay £200 ($331.85) to each of the attendants and £2476 ($4100.65) in costs to Bermuda Police Service.According to the Mail Online, the problems began halfway through the November 5 flight, when Close started hitting her husband. She then got up on her seat and began shouting.The 45-year-old bit and hit a cabin steward as he attempted to put handcuffs on her.The restraints were removed when Close calmed down, but she started shouting and was cuffed again.Stewardess Caroline Cross was also bitten and kicked as she attempted to calm Close down.Robert Mann told Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court that his client’s actions were completely out of character.He said she suffered from anxiety and depression, which had been made worse by a 30-hour delay, then a technical hitch once passengers had boarded.He said she had taken anti-depressants, painkillers for arthritis, and a modest amount of drink and was nervous.Close, from Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, pleaded guilty to two charges of assault, and a further charge of affray.