The offence of endangering the flight of an aircraft required proof that there followed from the act of the defendant a real risk of danger, a danger that should not be ignored. A passenger refused to turn off his mobile phone. The prosecution brought evidence that the phone would emit signals searching for a base, … Continue reading Regina v Whitehouse: CACD 10 Dec 1999
The idea of what was ‘drunkenness’ was sufficiently clear, and not capable of being challenged under the Human Rights Act. The order which made it a criminal offence to be drunk on board an aircraft were not ultra vires, since the Act gave power to regulate for safety and that was the intention of the … Continue reading Regina v Tagg: CACD 14 Jun 2001
The offence of being drunk on board an aircraft can include allegations that the behaviour was the cause of fear in other passengers, without the offence being charged as endangering the aircraft. The offence carried a heavy maximum penalty precisely because these consequences of terror and insecurity in the minds of fellow passengers naturally followed … Continue reading Regina v Ayodeji: CACD 20 Oct 2000
