Actor in air rage attack escapes jail

April 15, 2005

By Getty, Metro

15 April 2005

An actor who forced a holiday jet into an emergency landing after

attacking the crew has escaped a jail sentence.

Freddie Cunliffe, 23, sparked panic at 9,000m (30,000ft) when he

turned violent during a row with his girlfriend.

Flight attendants ushered him to the rear of the plane but he hit

one of them in the face, breaking his glasses.

When they tried to restrain him, he turned on another crew member,

calling him 'a f***ing queer' and a 'f***ing Paki'.

'He attempted to bite, spit and kick at several members of crew,'

prosecutor Guy Dillway-Parry told Hove Crown Court in

Sussex. 'Passengers got involved and he was pinned to his seat in a

headlock.'

Cunliffe, who had taken a cocktail of valium and vodka, was

immobilised with a restraining kit.

The Monarch Airlines flight from Goa, in India, to Gatwick was

diverted to Cyprus and he was escorted off the plane.

O'Neill, defending, told the court that Cunliffe suffered from

Asperger's Syndrome - a form of autism - which made him panic if

touched or restrained.

He said: 'Had he not suffered from this condition his behaviour

would not have escalated the way it did.

'The reason for the consumption of vodka and valium was misguided

and stupid, but innocent because he wanted to sleep on the flight.'

Cunliffe - who starred in Tim Roth's film The War Zone - admitted

endangering an aircraft and assault in January last year.

Passing a six-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, Mr

Recorder Vivian Ramsey QC told him: 'I accept Asperger's formed a

large part of your behaviour, which was out of character.'

Cunliffe, of Bow Street, Central London, was also ordered to pay

£250 to the air steward he hit.

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