Jet passenger handcuffed after she kicks flight attendant’s bum

A drunken jet passenger was handcuffed and bound with gaffer tape after she demanded more wine and then kicked a flight attendant’s bottom at 30,000 feet, a court heard.

Hospital receptionist Maxine Williams, 57, screamed at steward Teoh Ming Lee ‘You Malaysian pig”, and ‘I hate your f***ing country’ after drinking for ten hours.

The captain of the A380 aircraft ordered her to be tied after she staggered into the first class galley looking for more alcohol, Willesden Magistrates’ Court heard.

She was sent back to her seat and snapped an arm rest as she fell on another passenger.

Angered by crew refusing to serve her, Williams kicked the meal cart, splashing water on to another passenger.

She then racially abused Teoh Lee and kicked her in the buttocks, the magistrates were told.

Prosecutor Neehal Patel said Williams was so ‘out of control’ she had to be restrained.

Miss Lee fought back tears in court as she told how she felt ‘degraded’ by Williams’s tirade of abuse on the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Heathrow.

Children sitting next to Williams were crying and scared and a family moved to another deck to get away from her.

She said: ‘As the flight took off everything was smooth until after ten hours into the flight I came back from my break.

‘Ms Williams became unruly and very abusive and started swearing.

‘She used a lot of “f**k” words. She said: “Give me a f***ing coke”, “I want more f***ing alcohol.

‘She couldn’t stand up properly and kept leaning to the side.

‘She kicked my meal cart, the water on the cart spilled onto the passenger.

‘I told her don’t kick the cart so she started swearing.

‘She said: “You Malaysian pig, I f***ing hate your country, you f***ing idiot”.

‘As I brought the cart back after serving the passengers she kicked my left bum.

‘It was very painful, I told my colleague to get the tape for her leg so she would kick me anymore.

‘I had to stop for 15 minutes. It felt very degrading.

‘The children were crying and were scared.

‘She was crying for more wine.’

‘I had a lady and her daughter transferred to the upper deck because she was terrified.’

Williams kept up the abuse even when her arms and legs were bound before falling asleep 45 minutes before landing.

Police were ready when the plane landed at Heathrow, and Williams was still drunk despite her snooze.

Williams was travelling alone on her way back from a holiday of a lifetime on the island of Langkawi.

She denied the charges and said the Malaysian Airlines crew exaggerated her behaviour to justify restraining her.

The prosecutor said: ‘The captain escalated to stage three which means crew were ordered to physically restrain and she was handcuffed.

‘They had to do this to maintain the safety of the aircraft which shows how destructive her behaviour was.’

Giving evidence, Williams said she did nothing wrong and insisted the staff tied her up for no reason.

She said she wasn’t drunk despite having three glasses of wine and two glasses of champagne.

‘There was no reason for them to restrain me, no reason at all,’ said Williams.

‘You’re saying out of the blue they restrained you?’ asked the clerk.

‘Yes and then they marched me to my seat.

‘My hands were numb for three months.

‘Every time I moved my wrists slightly it was excruciating pain.

‘I asked if somebody could help me and I started to cry.

Asked about whether she kicked Miss Lee she said: ‘I was wearing socks it would have hurt my foot, I would have broken my foot I wouldn’t dream of doing something like that.

‘I had a happy holiday I had been to Malaysia before it was a lovely place to go.

‘I know I wasn’t drunk, I was at the police station when the police told me the story. I didn’t know what they were talking about.

Neehal Patel, prosecuting, asked Williams: ‘But you accept that you were drunk in the interview.’

She replied: ‘Most certainly not. My behaviour was absolutely normal.’

Williams also denied racially abusing Ms Lee during the flight.

‘I think I said to them their country is like a movie,’ she said.

‘I like the country.’

Williams was found guilty of beating steward Teoh Ming Lee, using threatening and abusive words or behaviour, racially aggravated harassment and entering an aircraft when drunk.

Magistrate Andy Millen said: ‘We heard evidence from Teoh Ming Lee, Intan Derwini and Shstri Ishak.

‘They were cabin crew during the allegations which occurred and we found all three of gave clear compelling evidence which corroborated each other.

‘Kylie Dark was a passenger, we heard her tape made of a lady shouting, using abusive language with a racial element.

‘We heard Williams had denied all the charges and claimed that crew had her in restraints for no reason.

‘She said she swore when she had been restrained and not before.

‘Ms Dark’s own children were affected and her daughter was very distressed.

‘We find Ms Williams was drunk on the aircraft.

‘The court finds the matter so serious that we don’t believe we have sufficient sentencing powers and we therefore are doing to send it to the crown court.’

Williams, who worked at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, will be sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court on a date to be fixed.
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