Edyta Skubala - Credit: SWNS
A drunk mum-of-two told a flight attendant to f**k off and tried to smoke FOUR cigarettes on a Ryanair flight – then asked arresting officers for a fag, a court heard.
Boozy Edyta Skubala, 40, swigged from a bottle of duty-free spirits and repeatedly tried to spark up on the service from Poznan in Poland to Bristol.
An hour into the flight cabin crew heard “someone screaming” and investigated to find Skubala smoking a cigarette.
She was stopped, Clare Fear, prosecuting, told the court, but ten minutes later the flight attendants heard more screaming.
The attendant went back to find her smoking AGAIN while swigging duty-free vodka.
When the cabin crew took her fags away and asked to see her boarding pass Skubala screamed at them in Polish to “f**k off”, the court heard.
She then stumbled to the toilet, so drunk she needed support, where cabin crew made her use the bathroom with the door open in case she started smoking again.
“There were a further two incidents when the defendant tried to smoke thereafter,” said Ms Fear.
“So a total of four occasions when the defendant tried to light cigarettes whilst on flights.”
Police officers were waiting at Bristol Airport to arrest the “heavily intoxicated” mum and take her to a police station.
She was put into a police van where the officer said she continued to ask for cigarettes on the way to the station.
The court heard Skubalat and her partner, who lives in Doncaster, was flying to Bristol so she could look for a job in nearby Avonmouth.
Rupert Russell, defending, said “she had not intended to cause danger or alarm on the flight, saying: “she was simply too drunk to listen to instructions or recognise the danger she was causing.”
Katie Wildish, a probation officer said Skubala took full responsibility, adding “she’s absolutely mortified by her behaviour.”
Ms Wildish explained that Skubala had been living in the UK for four years prior to the offence.
“She’d been to the funeral in Poland of her aunt who had been her primary carer as a child. She admits she was very emotionally distressed at the time.”
Skubala’s partner had purchased the vodka at the airport as they were leaving Poland.
“Ordinarily she drinks cider,” explained Ms Wildish.
By drinking the vodka her partner had purchased, she wasn’t used to its strength became drunk very quickly.”
Getting arrested had been a disaster for her as it meant she could no longer work, and the couple could barely afford to come to Bristol for court hearings.
Ms Wildish said: “Ever since she’s been in the UK she’s worked but since the offence she hasn’t been able to work because the police have her passport.
“She has a 15 year-old son 20 and 20 year-old daughter live in crew and they’re disgusted with her.”
Passing sentence Recorder of Bristol Judge Blair said, “you were extremely drunk, you were causing a disturbance with people around you and smoking.
“There were three further persistent occasions when you tried to smoke on the plane ignoring instructions that you must not.
“And you were abusive and intimidating and I have no doubt people were fearful of your behaviour.”
But said it would be “wrong” to send her to prison, telling the defendant: “You are someone with no previous convictions, you present a very low risk of ever reoffending and you have been severely affected by these proceedings because you’ve been unable to work without having your passport.
“You have gone to big efforts to make sure you are at court on time for each of the hearings there have been and you’ve shown genuine and deep remorse.”
Edyta Skubala was sentenced to 180 hours of unpaid work as part of a community order and made to pay a statutory surcharge of £85 and £165 prosecution costs – a total of £250.
