A human rights lawyer from Hove who spat at a flight attendant during a drunken racist rant has been jailed for six months.
Simone Burns, 50, of First Avenue, Hove, launched her foul-mouthed tirade after being refused a fourth 25cl bottle of wine while flying business class on a flight from Mumbai to London last November.
Burns, 50, also known as Simone O’Broin, pleaded guilty last month to being drunk on an aircraft and assault by beating.
She called staff on board the Air India flight “Indian money-grabbing c****” in a tirade filmed by another passenger and posted on social media on Sunday 11 November last year.
Irish lady behaves in such an abusive, racist way with @airindiain crew for being refused extra drinks. Very decent AI crew behaviour. Arrested on landing. Wonder if she should have been controlled onboard with handcuffs. @JitiBhargava @Mohan_Rngnathan pic.twitter.com/kSTDmGOEm5
— Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) November 13, 2018
She described herself as an international criminal lawyer for the Palestinian people and shouted: “I have done so much for you f****** Indians and f****** Pakistanis. You should be grateful to me.”
She was also found to have been smoking in the toilets.
Burns, an Irish national, was jailed at Isleworth Crown Court today (Thursday 4 April) by Judge Nicholas Wood, despite having done good work during her career.
He said: “The experience of a drunk and irrational person in the confines of an aircraft is frightening – not least on a long-haul flight and poses a potential risk to safety.
“You were drunk and obnoxious almost from the beginning to the end. You were abusive, contemptuous and confrontational and used appalling language.”
Burns was jailed for six months for being drunk on an aircraft and two months concurrently for assault, making six months in total.
The judge also ordered her to pay £300 compensation to the flight attendant she assaulted.
It’s obvious her behaviour was totally unacceptable and abhorrent but taking everything in to account, what purpose does it serve to send her to prison.
I don’t know her and have never met her but can tell she is not a threat to society. Surely she is repentant for her actions and could have done something to benefit the community in return.
In my opinion, the judge in sending her to jail has committed a crime far in excess of what she did. The judge has not just sentenced her but her whole family and connections. Time will prove that our current judicial system is a complete farce – young men caught with knives given a slapped wrist – people assaulting police and given suspended sentences.
She has been sentenced based on who she is rather than what she did – disgusting.
If she had physically punched the steward the steward would that have been a jail sentence?
Verbal abuse like this should get this level of punishment. It still leaves bruises. Well done to the judge.
Gilbert, I know this woman, she is unstable and a menace. She has threatened me on a number of occasions. I am not sure what would make her see the error of her ways, but some time in a cell may do it. 6 months is a fair sentence.
A custodial sentence sends out a clear message that this type of behaviour won’t be tolerated, and you can expect time in prison. Hopefully she’ll use the time to reassess her relationship with alcohol. A fine and a slap on the wrist achieves nothing.
It’s about time this kind of behaviour results in a jail sentence. She deserves everything she got, and the judge deserves praise for a balanced judgement.
Airlines and alcohol don’t mix.
It turns even the most level-headed people into idiots.
I stand corrected then. Its just that the judge said she’d done good work.
You’d think someone qualified as a solicitor would be above reproach but I have often heard of quite a few of them ripping their clients off and using their knowledge of the law not to pay for building work etc in the most conniving way possible.
She does look bonkers as well.
So a human rights lawyer thinks its acceptable to spit in someone’s face and verbally abuse them? Shocking breach of ethics. The judge acted appropriately imo and her licence should be reviewed by the bar I feel.