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Plane mad Naomi Campbell escapes jail
Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent20.06.08
Naomi Campbell avoided jail today despite admitting kicking and spitting at police on board a plane at Heathrow.
The 38-year-old supermodel was told she will probably receive a community service order when she is sentenced later today.
Campbell had launched a vicious attack, using flailing arms and her platform-booted feet. She struck an officer with a mobile phone, the court heard.
She screamed abuse and accused the officers and the plane captain of racism in the row over her lost luggage at Terminal 5. The Los Angeles-bound Boeing 747 was delayed for 90 minutes as she was arrested, dragged from the plane and taken to a police cell.
During the rumpus she shouted at captain Mark Sutherland: "You are a racist, you would not be doing this if I was white." When police were called, she yelled at them: "It's because I'm a black woman, you are all racist, I'm going to sue you, I'm going to f**k you."
At one stage she made a call on her mobile phone and demanded: "They have lost my f***ing bag, get me another flight, get hold of the press, get my lawyer."
Another passenger in the £5,000-a-seat first class cabin hid for safety in the crew galley. Families and children in business class heard every word through a flimsy curtain. Campbell stood in the dock of Uxbridge magistrates' court dressed all in black, in an
Alexander McQueen jacket, skirt and belt, to answer to her name and give her date of birth. She admitted two charges of assaulting Pcs John Eastick and Charles Campling and using threatening and insulting words and behaviour to BA captain Mark Sutherland and the public.
As Melanie Parrish, prosecuting, detailed the case against her the supermodel could not keep from smirking. But as the hearing went on some tears appeared. At one stage she asked the usher if she could fetch her a cup of tea.
Miss Parrish told the court that the BA flight had been beset by the teething troubles at Terminal 5. Campbell had boarded in a friendly mood but grew agitated when she found out that one of her bags had gone missing.
The captain came to apologise, the court heard. The model told him: "I can't believe you have lost my f***ing bags. Bring me my f***ing bags now."
She then told him to get off the plane, find her bag and show it to her personally. "The captain explained that was not going to happen," said Miss Parrish. Campbell bellowed: "You are not leaving till you find my f***ing bag," and accused him of being a racist.
The supermodel then began to cry and said she was contracted to wear a particular Yves St Laurent outfit on a US chat show and it was in the missing bag.
The police were called and asked her to leave the aircraft. "But Campbell screamed: 'You can't f***ing touch me, my cousin is Scotland Yard." When Pc Eastick took her arm she went "berserk", throwing her mobile phone which struck him on the arm.
Pc Campling went to assist and Campbell "drew her right leg back and thrust it forward, striking him in the upper thigh uncomfortably close to his groin - at the time she was wearing formidable platform boots with stiletto heels," said Miss Parrish.
Campbell kicked out indiscriminately, catching Pc Eastick on the shin and the thigh and wedged herself into her seat. "The officers got hold of her arms to pull her out of her seat and she pulled her head back, then thrust it forward and spat with a totally reckless disregard," continued the prosecutor.
Simon Nicholls, defending, said that for Campbell to lose her luggage-was not like a holidaymaker "going without his shorts and flipflops" but was like a lawyer losing his laptop or a plumber his tools.
He said that Campbell offered her apologies to the police but: "I can't say she is quite so sorry towards BA and I don't think she will be troubling them with her custom." He said she had been on postoperative medication after visiting a clinic in Brazil.
The chairman of the bench Peter Yiacoumi told her that he was treating her as of previous good character. But he added: "The two officers were assaulted during a lengthy incident in the confined space of an aircraft and that is an aggravating feature."
He indicated that "a heavy community penalty is on our minds". The maximum sentence for the assaults to which she pleaded guilty is six months jail and/or a £5,000 fine.
Reader views (5)
I think a complaint or a petition should be made against
Peter Yiacoumi as he is clearly not doing his job or he has been bribed as if this was any other member of the public we would have been given a custodial sentence.
I have lost all faith in the Justice system
- Gerry Devlin, London
How can she possibly be treated as of previous good character? She is a walking timebomb. She has a string of complaints against her that she would have seen her inside were it not for her fame/infamy and her ethnicity. And playing the race card - pitiful. She's the only one doing that especially after belatedly accusing BA staff of calling her a golliwog. If they had at any stage you bet we'd have heard of that in a minute.
- Squiz, Islington
Why is it that every time she acts like an animal and gets caught she has to wheel out the racism card?
It's because of people like her that the word racism no longer has any meaning as it is overused, usually by racists like her as a last ditch attempt to win an argument.
- Jimbob, Kensington
Enough of Naomi "I am a super model" Campbell's dummyspits. If the "average Joe Blow" had done that, they would have sprayed him and the courts hung, drawn and quartered him. I am so cross with her, I feel like sending her back to her plastic surgeon in Brazil to have her nose fixed.
If the courts have the fortitude - find her guilty, jail her for the max (a fine is but a few minutes work) and then leave the door open for BA to sue for the delay and disruption she caused.
Perhaps a few airlines could actually ban her from travelling on their aircraft.
And what a cheap shot saying that this happened because she is black! Who is racist - trying to use the colour of their skin? The woman is out of control - she needs serious help - perhaps a few years in a forensic hospital.
- Ian Heritage, Melbourne, Australia
Nice behaviour. Not. You can take the girl out of Streatham, but you can't take Streatham out of the girl (sorry Streatham). It was a different story for Ian Brown (anyone remember that?). Looks go a long way in modern society...
- Jim, London
