Prison for plastered passenger

A SOZZLED easyJet passenger who scarfed two bottles of duty free wine before boarding his Malaga-bound flight from Bristol Airport has been jailed after the plane’s captain was forced to perform an emergency u-turn.

Martin Johnson, 56, smuggled a third portion of plonk onto the airliner in order to continue his bender, before absconding to the loo for a full ten minutes after takeoff, with the flabbergasted stewards later retrieving the empty glassware from the bin in the urine-drenched toilet.

At this point they alerted the cockpit, with the captain electing to turn around despite having reached Guernsey and much to the frustration of the 153 passengers, prompting Mr Johnson to leap from his seat and threaten to stab the pilot plus everyone else on board.

Thankfully, the plane landed safely, but after being released on bail by Bristol Crown Court the accused headed for the hills, eventually being detained in Glasgow on July 2.

He was convicted in his absence at an earlier hearing, during which prosecutor Janine Wood said: “He placed it [the bottle] in a bag under his seat.

“He was asked by cabin crew to put the bag in the overhead locker. He declined. He said he didn’t have anything in it.

“Paula James had the misfortune to sit next to him and saw him drinking some wine.

“She was concerned and she spoke to the cabin manager, James Brown.

“He contacted the flight deck and a decision was made to divert to Bristol, 25 minutes into the flight around Guernsey.”