A 62-year-old British man was charged with multiple offences related to abusive conduct toward airline staff and fellow passengers on Tuesday, July 29.
Steven George Harris was travelling on Singapore Airlines Flight SQ309 when he allegedly hurled insults and threats towards other people and physically assaulted a crew member, leading to four criminal charges.
The charges included one each of criminal intimidation and using insulting words to cause harassment, and two under the Air Navigation Act for his behavior against two crew members.
On April 28, he was heading from London to Singapore, when he allegedly insulted fellow passenger by saying that "it was disgusting that two races would mix" and that "Britain is not white anymore".
He is accused of threatening another person, saying, "You are Israeli, **** off, I'll kill you" and shouting at him to "**** off".
According to court documents, the individual thought Harris might attack him.
Harris is accused of calling a Singapore Airlines crew member a "d***head" and pushing his shoulders twice, which led to his second fall.
Additionally, he is charged with insulting a second crew member by calling him a "glorified barman" and using profanity.
Reports stated that these incidents occurred between approximately 5:15 pm on April 27 and 6:20 am on April 28.
Harris responded "not guilty" when asked to indicate his preferred plea.
The case was postponed until next month for a pre-trial conference.
If found guilty, he may face up to six months in jail, a fine of up to S$5,000, or both for harassing others.
Criminal intimidation carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison, a fine, or both. The maximum jail sentence increases to 10 years if the threat is one of death.
He may face up to five years in prison, a fine of up to S$100,000, or both for acting disrespectfully or unrulily toward flight crew.
