Four men on a stag party, whose rowdy and drunken behaviour caused a transatlantic flight to be diverted, have been jailed.
Craig Hopwood, Michael Ward, Scott Capper and Daniel Howarth were all jailed for their "appalling" actions.
The group boarded a flight from Manchester to Las Vegas on Saturday March 24 2018 and began drinking and smoking e-cigarettes as the aircraft took off.
Despite being warned numerous times, and members of the cabin crew pointing out that children and families were on board, the four men continued with their disruptive and intimidating behaviour - fighting each other, throwing water bottles across the cabin, having water fights and wetting many passengers around them.
The aircraft's captain took the decision to divert the flight to Winnipeg, Canada, meaning that the aircraft had to dump 10,000 gallons of fuel to land safely.
The men were subsequently arrested by Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Detective Constable Brad Howarth, of GMP's Manchester Airport team, said: "The actions of these four men were appalling. Their behaviour was intimidating and frightening, for both the passengers unfortunate enough to be sat near them, as well as the crew who made every possible attempt to reason with them as the flight continued.
"However, the group's aggressive actions had no bounds, showing absolutely no consideration for the many children and families on board that had to endure their grossly unacceptable and offensive language and behaviour.
"The cabin crew and captain, who whilst carrying out their duties on a full aircraft, had to deal with an intimidating and disgracefully behaved group of men. Despite this, they kept the safety of their passengers at the forefront of their minds and their professionalism is commendable.
"Today, the drunken and loutish behaviour of these four men has resulted in a jail sentence; and I hope that this sends a clear message - anyone who thinks about acting the same on an aircraft will be met with the firmest police response upon their return to Manchester."
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