Stephen Blofield (Image: Avon and Somerset Police)
Last Updated: 1 minute ago
A 61-year-old man from Pembrokeshire has been sentenced to 10 months in prison after his drunken behaviour on a flight from Poland caused the aircraft to abort its initial landing at Bristol Airport.
Stephen Blofield, of Haverfordwest, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court today (Tuesday 7 April) and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £187.
The flight
The incident took place on Tuesday 11 November on a flight from Krakow to Bristol Airport. Blofield was intoxicated during the journey and became verbally abusive towards cabin crew, with his behaviour ultimately forcing the pilot to abort the plane’s first attempt at landing.
Officers from the Bristol Airport policing team were waiting when the aircraft eventually touched down safely.
Guilty pleas
Blofield had pleaded guilty in February to four charges – being drunk on an aircraft, behaving in a threatening, abusive, insulting or disorderly manner towards a member of the aircraft crew, using threatening or abusive words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress, and failing to obey the lawful commands of a pilot while onboard an aircraft.
Police response
Inspector Christian Gresswell, of the Bristol Airport policing team, said: “Passengers have a duty for safety reasons to make sure they are fit enough to fly and not intoxicated.
“Stephen Blofield caused the initial landing to be aborted and continued to be verbally abusive towards cabin crew. He was met by officers at Bristol Airport once the flight had safely landed.
“We want people travelling to and from a holiday to relax and enjoy themselves, but we hope this case serves as a bit of a reminder to people that everyone needs to take responsibility for their own actions and ensure they are in a fit state to fly. An intoxicated passenger can pose an unacceptable risk to safety, and that’s why we take the offence so seriously.
“We will continue to work closely with airport staff and airlines to keep passengers and crew safe at all times.”
