Most Ryanair passengers are angry and resigned when they find out that their luggage doesn’t meet the size restrictions for carry-on baggage and they have to pay extra to check it. Some people, on the other hand, react violently, even physically, as happened with a passenger who was about to board a flight to Germany and was recently sentenced to three months in prison for attacking a Ryanair employee during a fight over his luggage at Alicante-Elche Airport. He also threatened a number of other workers, for which he was also fined €180 for this small crime. The passenger not only couldn’t travel, but the National Police also arrested him. He had to summon a family member to take care of his 12-year-old daughter, who was with him when the fight broke out.
Criminal Court Number 4 of Elche gave the punishment after a plea deal was negotiated in a trial between the defence, the prosecution, and the private prosecution, which was represented by lawyer Aitor Navarro García. The decision also says that he has to compensate the worker who was attacked €3,505 in damages.
The judgement says that the events happened on July 15th, 2021, in the Ryanair check-in area at the Alicante-Elche airport terminal. A 40-year-old guy got into a fight with airline workers about a luggage that was too big. He “grabbed a female employee by the neck and slammed her against the glass counter” with the goal of hurting her.
Injuries received
The court said that the victim had “cervicalgia, paravertebral and trapezius muscle contracture, pain in the extensor region of the right arm, erythema in the interclavicular region, and adjustment disorder with mixed emotional and behavioural disturbances” because of the attack. These injuries needed medical attention, which included rehabilitation and psychological care, and it took 128 days for them to recover.
One of the employees who was threatened informed the police that the incident happened at a check-in counter when she saw that one of the suitcases she was carrying was too big to be carry-on luggage. The woman told her to go to the luggage sizer, but the man started calling her names, hurled the suitcase into the air, and banged it on the floor several times.
The shift supervisor tried to help, but was attacked. During the fight, the passenger said things like, “You’re all sons of bitches, be careful what you’re doing, I’ll remember your faces and you’ll remember mine too, because I’m going to kill you.”
Being held
The National Police finally detained the passenger who started the fight. The officers said that the 091 emergency contact centre was told about an incident at a Ryanair check-in desk involving someone they had had problems with an hour before. When he came back, they were afraid he would hurt them. The authorities were told by the airline workers that the passenger had seized a coworker by the neck and said they would kill them.
Police looked for the father and discovered him at the bus station with his 12-year-old daughter. They found out who he was, and although he lived outside of Spain and said he didn’t have a permanent home there, they arrested him on July 15, 2021, for a minor crime of assault and threats. when spending the night in jail, he was freed the next day when he chose to keep silent at the police station and the authorities confirmed that he lived in Xàbia with his wife.
The defendant admitted guilt at the hearing. The sentence includes three months in prison for assault, a €180 fine for making threats, payment of €3,505 to the victim, and payment of court expenses. The judge put the prison term on hold for two years, but said that if he commits another crime during that time, he will lose this benefit and have to go to prison to serve his sentence. This suspension is also dependent on the victim getting paid.
Author: Derek Appleton
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