It’s bad enough when you’ve had a few too many and get behind the wheel, endangering the lives of other road users, but it’s quite another to try and pilot a plane when sozzled.
The law takes a fairly dim view of that too, with 49-year-old British Airways pilot Julian Monaghan jailed for eight months at Lewes Crown Court in east Sussex.
Monaghan, who divides his time between Cape Town and London, admitted guilt. Times LIVE reports:
Judge Janet Waddicor had no time for his nonsense, laying down the law during her sentencing and pointing out that Monaghan was four times above the legal limit for pilots:
“The limits are pitched deliberately low because of the responsibility which attaches to the job. The lives of the people on board are in the hands of the pilot‚” she told Monaghan.
“The people who live on the flight path are entitled to feel they are safe. It may be you would have got away with it because you say you weren’t aware you were over the limit.
“You say you were staggered at the reading and when the police reading was confirmed you resigned.”
Four times above the legal limit? Staggering.
British Airways already had Monaghan on their radar, following a warning seven years earlier when the pilot was involved in a “drunken argument in a bar”.
His lawyer asked for leniency on the basis that Monaghan had lost everything and “would never fly commercially again”, as well as offering an “unreserved apology to the passengers”.
Once those eight months have been served, Monaghan hopes to earn a living in South Africa taking drone photos for real estate agencies.
Probably best for everyone involved.
[source:timeslive]
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