Grandmother imprisoned for ISIS rant on Flybe flight
A 60-year-old British grandmother has been jailed for seven months after drunkenly ranting about ISIS on a flight travelling between Glasgow and Birmingham in March this year.
Elaine Ryan went as far as to claim one of her fellow passengers was a member of ISIS and was carrying a bomb, Metro reports.
Crew members also reported that Ryan was seen swigging from a bottle of vodka and even attempted to light a cigarette on the Flybe flight.
The crew stepped in to try and control the situation by taking Ryan from her seat and strapping her into a seat in the galley of the plane, the Daily Mail reports.
However this didn't stop the mother-of-three from continuing to scream abuse at the rest of the plane.
When police arrived, she reportedly demanded to be allowed to light her cigarette before going on to scratch one of the police officers attempting to arrest her.
Despite the disturbances on board the flight carried on to its final destination in Birmingham but the captain was required to request a priority landing slot so that Ryan could be arrested immediately, reports the Irish Post.
The Recorder of Birmingham, Melbourne Inman QC, said: "The plane had to become a priority landing which had a knock on effect on other planes wanting to land at that airport.
"All those travelling in an aeroplane are relatively vulnerable because even a small incident may have potentially catastrophic consequences 25,000 feet in the air.
"Behaviour such as this cannot be tolerated and courts should include an element of deterrence for the benefit of the public."
Elaine Ryan pleaded guilty to being drunk on an aircraft and obstructing a police constable, she has been sentenced to seven months in prison.
