There are dickheads among us - thankfully this one is in jail

The world is full of dickheads - but an American man this week admitted to being among the biggest dickheads out there.

Joshua Lowe from Michigan was sentenced to eight months in prison for making a hoax bomb threat to a cruise line, news portal Travel Mole reported.

He made the threat as he was upset his girlfriend and her family were taking a cruise without him and left him to look after their pets. 

Lowe was sentenced last week in a US court.

Federal prosecutors said Carnival Cruise Line received a January 2024 email stating: “Hey, I think someone might have a bomb on your Carnival Sunrise cruise ship.”

The cruise ship had just departed Miami en route for Jamaica.

Due to the threat, ship crew searched more than 1000 cabins for a potential bomb. 

The US Coast Guard was alerted and the Jamaica Marine Police escorted the ship into port.

Lowe admitted the offence when questioned and said he was upset over his girlfriend going on the cruise without him.

He could have been sent to prison for up to five years but his sentence of eight months was far lower. He will, however, also be required to pay restitution for expenses associated with the hoax.

“Bomb threats are not a laughing matter and are extremely irresponsible,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, special agent in charge of the FBI in Michigan.

“When individuals make false hoax threats, they divert critical law enforcement resources and spread unnecessary fear.”

Bring back the stocks, I say.  

Airline takes unruly passenger to court

There has been a recent plague of drunk, buffoonish, sometimes violent, behaviour on commercial aircraft.

Often the miscreants get a slap on the wrist, or a good behaviour bond.

In Europe, however, low-cost carrier Ryanair has had enough of the idiocy of buttheads.

Ryanair is taking action against a passenger it says forced a pilot to divert a flight.

It has started legal proceedings against the passenger it claims disrupted a Dublin to Lanzarote flight, which had to be diverted to Portugal, news hub Travel Mole reports.

Ryanair is seeking €15,000 (around $25,000 in Aussie money) in compensation to cover the cost of diverting the flight. The passenger has not been named. 

It filed the lawsuit in Dublin’s circuit court claiming "inexcusable and completely unacceptable" behaviour.

The damages it seeks are for overnight accommodation and related expenses given to passengers due to the diversion to Porto.

Ryanair said it will continue to take "decisive action" against other unruly behaviour.

The incident led to 160 passengers "facing unnecessary disruption and lost a full day of their holiday".

“It is unacceptable that passengers - many of whom are heading away with family or friends to enjoy a relaxing summer holiday - are suffering unnecessary disruption and reduced holiday time,” a Ryanair spokesperson said.

Bravo Ryanair.

New Zealand winemaker is a very naughty boy

A leading New Zealand winemaker who smuggled vine cuttings from Australia to New Zealand in contravention of biosecurity laws has been sentenced in a Blenheim Court.

James Millton used the smuggled clippings to establish vines, the Ministry for Primary Industries said in a statement.

Millton was charged with hiding the cuttings he hid in his luggage. The judge described his actions as “utterly inexplicable” and “unfathomable”.

Millton operates Millton Vineyards and Winery, which is promoted as New Zealand’s first organic and biodynamic wine estate.

He was this week sentenced in the Blenheim District Court to five months of community detention and fined $NZ15,000 on charges linked to him knowingly importing goods with no biosecurity clearance and knowingly making a false or misleading declaration to officials at Auckland Airport.

James and his former wife Annie Millton established The Millton Vineyard on the banks of the Te Arai River near Manutuke in the Gisborne region 40 years ago.

The Ministry for Primary Industries charged Millton after a Blenheim nursery raised concerns over the provenance of cuttings he wanted grafted, which turned out to be from the illegal vines already established in Gisborne.

He admitted illegally importing the grapevine cuttings in his suitcase, failing to declare them, and later planting them in his garden and vineyard.

The court heard that Millton’s actions risked introducing a suite of pests and diseases that had the potential to cripple the New Zealand wine industry, which is also one of the country’s major export industries.

During a trip to South Australia in 2019, Millton took the two cuttings from a savagnin grapevine from a vineyard in the Adelaide Hills - a vineyard he knew to be healthy and disease-free. Savagnin is a grape variety grown mostly in the Jura region of France.

Millton was interested in the variety as it was not present in New Zealand and he wanted to cultivate it at his vineyard in Gisborne, and then later in Marlborough. Not a great plan it turned out. 

Delta dawn: Sorry, your pilot's been on the piss

UPDATE: The pilot was this week sentenced to 10 months in jail.

When you are responsible for the safety of several hundred people, you probably should have the intelligence and decency not to get drunk as a skunk.

But a US-based Delta Air Lines pilot has pleaded guilty to being over the alcohol limit before he was due to fly a transatlantic flight back to the US from Scotland in June last year, Travel Mole reports.

Reporting for duty for an Edinburgh to New York flight, Lawrence Russell, 63, was searched by Edinburgh Airport security officers.

They discovered two bottles of herbal alcoholic drink Jägermeister in his bag, including one which was half empty.

Thinking he was possibly intoxicated, the officers required him to do a breath test - which he failed miserably. His reading was more than twice the legal limit.

Russell was remanded in custody at Edinburgh Sheriff's Court after pleading guilty to being impaired through drink as a pilot.

In mitigation, Russell’s lawyer supplied records to the court of his treatment for alcoholism. A bit of a worry for his passengers.

Russell said was "under no illusion" it was a serious offence.

Sheriff Alison Stirling this week said a prison sentence was necessary for the "protection of the public".

In sentencing, she said Russell "showed a reckless disregard for the safety of his passengers and crew. The pilot of a commercial aircraft holds the lives of hundreds in his hands.

“This conviction should send the message that crimes of this nature will be robustly dealt with.”

Air Canada says its chatbot has a mind of its own

Air Canada, whose baggage handling and customer service failings have been canvassed regularly (GoTR passim, ad nauseam), are at it again.

The airline made a laughing stock of itself in a small claims court in Vancouver during the week.

In what is believed to be a first of its kind ruling, Air Canada was ordered to pay compensation to a customer after its chatbot supplied bogus information, CBC reported.

The airline had admitted wrong information was given to customer Jake Moffatt but Air Canada then tried to brush it off, claiming, hilariously, that the bot was responsible for its own words and actions.

The airline tried to argue the bot was a 'separate legal entity' and it should not be liable for its mistakes.

The chatbot advised Moffatt he could claim a bereavement fare refund within 90 days of the date the ticket was issued.

Air Canada later denied the refund request, saying bereavement rate differences cannot be refunded for completed travel, which is listed on the bereavement section of the Air Canada website.

The chatbot had used "misleading words" Air Canada admitted.

“There is no reason why Mr Moffatt should know that one section of Air Canada’s webpage is accurate, and another is not,” the court heard.

Air Canada was ordered to pay Moffatt the difference in the fare he paid and the bereavement fare, as well as interest and legal fees.

"This [was] a remarkable submission," Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) member Christopher Rivers wrote.

"While a chatbot has an interactive component, it is still just a part of Air Canada's website. It should be obvious to Air Canada that it is responsible for all the information on its website. It makes no difference whether the information comes from a static page or a chatbot."

Moffatt provided the CRT with a screenshot of the chatbot's words: "If you need to travel immediately or have already travelled and would like to submit your ticket for a reduced bereavement rate, kindly do so within 90 days of the date your ticket was issued by completing our Ticket Refund Application form."

Based on that assurance, Moffatt had booked full-fare tickets to and from Toronto to attend their grandmother's funeral.

"Forgetful" US politician arrested after flying with a gun in his briefcase

They really are as dumb as they seem.

Americans love their guns. And they like to take them everywhere.

Even into foreign countries where they are illegal - and onto planes.

After all, that is their God-given right as Americans.

The latest idiot to expose themselves to ridicule is Washington state senator Jeff Wilson, a Republican (of course).

He was was arrested at Hong Kong International Airport (above) on charges of possessing a locally unregistered firearm, Travel Mole reported.

Wilson said he discovered the weapon on his flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong when he reached into his briefcase for a piece of chewing gum (how very American), his office said in a statement.

An easy mistake to make. Who doesn't have a gun in their briefcase?

Baggage screeners in Portland, Oregon, apparently failed to notice the unloaded pistol in his briefcase when he went through security - how reassuring.

Wilson said that when he landed at Hong Kong International Airport, he told customs officials there about the gun. Other reports said the gun was discovered during a search.

“It was an honest mistake,” Wilson said in his statement.

He said the pistol was properly registered in Washington, although unregistered in Hong Kong.

Wilson said he had started a five-week vacation (do most Americans get five weeks of annual leave?) with his wife, his office said. He hoped to resume his planned travel to Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia once the matter was resolved.

Under Hong Kong’s laws, carrying firearms without a license is punishable by up to 14 years in jail and a fine.

Wilson was initially detained and has been bailed to face a hearing October 30.

Passenger from hell guilty of attacking flight attendant

Colin Smith from Hull is not the sort of fellow you want sitting next to you on a plane. Or anywhere near you.

The unruly Smith this week pleaded guilty to attacking a flight attendant on an easyJet flight from Manchester to Malta.

Smith told the court he was drunk after consuming over 3/4 of a bottle of duty free whisky.

He stood up in his seat when the seatbelt sign was on, and when approached by a female steward he lunged at her, grabbing her neck with both hands, the court was told.

In court, Smith "expressed remorse" for his behaviour.

The case was reported in the Manchester Evening News.

There is a real issue here for anyone who flies.

What should you do if you sat next to the likes of Smith, or someone like him drunkenly falls on you?

The court heard the flight attendant pushed him away in an effort to defend herself. He then lost his balance and fell on a row of passengers, who helped to restrain him.

The following week, Smith was arrested after his returning flight and admitted to the assault and being intoxicated on an aircraft.

Barrister Colette Renton, who defended Smith, said his memory of the incident was “fragmented” from being drunk at the time.

She said that his fear of flying is what led him to drink in excess.

Smith could face up to two years in jail when sentenced in the new year. But maybe people guilty of this type of offence should simply be banned from ever flying again.

French wine fraud scandal unveiled in court

The Bordeaux wine industry is bracing for another scandal after investigators discovered an alleged fraud scheme which saw up to five million bottles of cheap Spanish wine labelled as being French.

The Times and Drinks Business reported this week that prosecutors say the scheme generated about €4 million between 2013 and 2019.

Five suspects are facing trial in Bordeaux after being charged with fraud and could potentially face sentences of up seven years in jail. 

The prosecutor's office has called for five-year jail terms for the offender, Sud Ouest newspaper reported. 

Some of the bottles found to be part of the scam contained wines bought for a few Euros a litre but sold as high-end Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, Saint-Julien and Margaux wines from Bordeaux.

The rest was sold as French table wine, which still demand a higher price than their Spanish counterparts.

The enquiry centres on Celliers Vinicoles du Blayais, producers north of Bordeaux, who allegedly imported cheap wines from Spain after becoming concerned that they would be unable to fulfil orders.

Soccer player became "the airline passenger from hell"

We all hope and pray each time we board a flight that we do not get seated anywhere near the passenger from hell. 

Every now and then there is a media report about someone behaving bizarrely on a plane - fortunately it does not happen too often. 

Earlier this month, however, an Irishman allegedly went beserk on a flight between Dublin and New York, pulling down his pants and baring his buttocks at crew and passengers, hurling a drink can at a fellow traveller and putting his own cap on the captain’s head.

Shane McInerney was in court this week charged with refusing to wear a mask on a Delta flight and several other offences, Global Travel Media reported. 

He allegedly put his cap on the captain’s head, held a fist to his face and told him, “Don’t touch me.” The captain was on a rest break at the time and was in the cabin.

The criminal complaint said “at least one passenger” had found the Irishman “scary” and flight crew considered diverting the plane to a nearby airport to hand McInerney over to airport security.

McInerney’s flight from Ireland to New York was the first leg of a trip to Florida to begin a job at a soccer academy in the state, British media reported.

He was admitted to hospital for medical and psychological evaluation after the flight landed, prosecutors said. 

He could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $US250,000.

McInerney played for several lower league teams during his career, including a stint with Magpies Crusaders in Mackay, Australia. He also signed for Dandenong Thunder in Victoria.