Defence counsel Chris Sherrard revealed that most of the offences are alleged to have occurred in Hurghada airport, while the plane was on the tarmac so “territorial issues arise”
A Belfast social worker has been charged with an ‘air rage’ attack, alleged to have been committed in Hurghada in Egypt.
Nadine Nugent, 35, has been charged with seven offences, all said to have been committed on 21 May this year.
Nugent, from Ardmoulin Place in the west of the city, faces three charges of common assault in addition to single counts of making a threat to kill, failing to comply with the lawful command of the pilot, behaving in a threatening, abusive or insulting manner and being drunk on an aircraft.
The alleged facts giving rise to the charges were not opened when the case came before Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena on Tuesday, but the details of the charges disclose accusations that Nugent assaulted two women and a man, and that on easyJet flight EZY3077 Belfast International Airport to Hurghada, she “failed to obey a lawful command which the pilot in command of an aircraft gave for the purpose of securing the safety of the aircraft and of persons or property carried in the aircraft, or the safety, efficiency or regularity of air navigation.”
In a brief review of the case, defence counsel Chris Sherrard revealed that most of the offences are alleged to have occurred in Hurghada airport, while the plane was on the tarmac so “territorial issues arise.”
With a number of the offences being charged under air navigation legislation, he added there will also be issues relating to “the Tokyo convention” and whether there PPS agree to that.
The Tokyo Convention, also known as the Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, is an international treaty from 1963 that establishes jurisdiction over crimes committed on a civilian aircraft.
It empowers the aircraft commander to take necessary actions against offenders and requires signatory states to establish jurisdiction over offences on their registered aircraft.
The convention aims to ensure no lack of jurisdiction and that offences on aircraft do not go unpunished.
Confirming there would be no witness agreement ahead of any contest, Mr Sherrard revealed that Nugent is a social worker but that she has been suspended from 2023 due to other issues, not related to the charges.
District Judge Nigel Broderick adjourned the case to 9 December to fix a date for the “five plus one” contested trial.
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