Flight attendant who was four times over the limit blames rare condition
A flight attendant crashed her car on the way to work then and boarded a Barbados-bound jet while more than four times over the legal limit, a court heard.
Kathryn Scott, 45, was ‘drowsy’ when she was spoken to by police officers on the Virgin Atlantic flight at Heathrow on 12 June last year.
Scott had crashed her black Hyundai at a roundabout on her way to work after drinking wine the night before.
She was arrested and a blood sample sent to a lab returned with 91mg of alcohol – four and a half times the legal limit of 20mg.
Scott claimed she had only drunk two glasses of wine and has a rare condition which affects how alcohol is metabolised in the body.
She appeared in Ealing Magistrates’ Court today wearing a black jacket over a red stop.
She shed a tear as she entered the dock and admitted performing an activity auxiliary to an aviation function when she was under the influence of alcohol.
John Theron, prosecuting, said: ‘The defendant was driving to Heathrow Airport and she was to be a crew member on a flight to Barbados.
‘She was involved in a traffic collision at a roundabout.’
Scott was driven to Heathrow by a member of the public after the incident and made her way through security.
She was helping passengers board the flight when police officers spoke to her on the plane.
Scott ‘appeared to be drowsy’ and she was breathalysed.
Blood samples were taken and sent to the lab for analysis, returning with an alcohol level of 91mg.
‘The legal limit, for aviation purposes, was 20mg. So what we are saying is it is four and a half times over,’ Mr Theron added.
Defending, Nimra Ashraf said Scott suffers from hemochromatosis, a medical condition that ‘causes iron overload’ and impacts how alcohol is metabolised in the body.
She said the flight attendant only had ‘two glasses of wine’ to drink the night before and had ‘no reason to believe’ herself to be over the legal limit.
She added the traffic collision was ‘not a result of impairment.’
Mother-of-two Scott has since stopped drinking completely, Ms Ashraf added.
Sentencing, Magistrate Andrew Rothery said: ‘Whilst you have pleaded guilty to the offence, the reality is not only you had an accident, you boarded an aircraft as cabin crew.
‘You would have been aware you were feeling drowsy and uncomfortable.
‘It is a fact that you boarded the aircraft [and] that put passengers at risk.’
He said he was pleased to hear Scott had since sought medication for the condition and had stopped drinking entirely.
Scott, of Ottershaw, Surrey, was fined £108 (corr), along with £300 costs and a £45 victim surcharge, making a total of £453. The cash will be paid in monthly £20 instalments from her universal credit
