Passenger in dock for misbehaving on flight

A Frenchman accused of air rage after getting drunk on an Emirates flight from Paris to Dubai confessed to his charges at the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday. Pleading for leniency and forgiveness, 37-year-old E.P also admitted to Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad in courtroom four that he behaved in an unruly manner when the flight crew refused to serve him any more liquor. Prosecutors charged the Frenchman with verbally threatening two male flight attendants in an inebriated state. The accused allegedly threatened an Australian and a French crew member and said he would "vandalise the plane and distort its image (sic) and make a huge problem" if he was not served more alcohol, the court heard. He had allegedly already consumed three bottles of wine when the crew refused to serve him any more alcohol. Testifying to the incident the French flight attendant said: "We served him wine as soon as he asked for it. Later he started asking for more and more. "When he started drinking heavily, I informed my supervisor [the Australian attendant]… who forbid us from serving the defendant any more liquor. "He reacted and behaved rowdily and inappropriately. I informed the suspect that my supervisor had told us not to serve him more alcohol. "Then he threatened us. He was heavily drunk when he said this." The Australian crew member confirmed his colleague's statement, adding: "When I ordered the attendant to stop serving him liquor until the flight reached its final destination, he got outraged. "Then he broke the screen of one of the in-flight television sets and I reported the matter to the captain. "When I checked on him later, he seemed asleep." During the hearing, E.P.'s advocate asked the judge to grant leniency to her client. A verdict will be heard on September 26.