This article is from page 6 of the 2006-03-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
A POLISH man has appeared in court, accused of attempting to break a window on a plane as it flew into Shannon at the weekend.
Szczepan Drzewiecki (37) was travelling from Warsaw to Shannon to take up employment in the construction industry in Tralee, when the alleged incident occurred.
He was arrested at Shannon Airport on arrival there on Friday night and brought before a special sitting of Ennis district court the following day.
Gardaí say the alleged offence is at “the higher scale of seriousness.”
Drzewiecki is facing three charges, arising out of the alleged incident on board a Centralwings flight from Warsaw to Shannon.
He is charged with being intoxicated, engaging in abusive behaviour on the plane and failing to cease engaging in abusive behaviour, when requested to do so by a crew member, contrary to the Air Navigation and Transport Act.
Inspector Tom Kennedy said it was alleged that when the plane was about an hour away from Shannon, the accused became aggressive and violent.
“He was drinking from a bag, which gardaí will say was vodka… He assaulted two passengers behind him. He went to punch the window and break the window,” he said.
A number of people had to intervene and the accused sustained an eye injury in a struggle that ensued. One of the witnesses travelling on the same flight was an Ennis businessman.
Garda Brian McCarthy said when charged, the accused replied “I am sorry” to one of the charges.
Defending solicitor, William Cahir, said his client was due to commence a job as a labourer in Tralee this week.
Inspector Tom Kennedy applied to remand the accused in custody and said there was a fear he may flee the jurisdiction.
“The circumstances of the offences with which he is charged are quite serious,” he said.
“I’m particularly concerned about the offences. They are very much at the higher end of these offences. If he were convicted the penalty would be quite severe,” said the inspector.
Mr Cahir said the accused’s relatives lived in Fermoy and he was willing to surrender his passport.
But Inspector Kennedy said he did not believe the accused’s links in Ireland “would be good enough to guarantee his appearance here to face the allegations.”
Judge Joseph Mangan agreed to the request from the prosecution and remanded the accused in custody, to appear again in court tomorrow.