Visitor ordered to compensate officer she assaulted

American visitor Michelle McElwee had intended to jump in a band for Grand Kadooment, but her disruptive behaviour on board an Air Canada flight to Barbados and assault of a crew member and police officer landed her in hot water before the law courts instead.

The 44-year-old real estate agent of Martin Luther King Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, United States, appeared in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to five offences which occurred on July 30.

These include that while being a passenger on board of Air Canada Rogue without reasonable excuse, she refused to follow a lawful instruction by Famke Van Brugge, a flight crew member, for the purpose of maintaining order on a plane, that she assaulted Van Brugge and Sergeant Stephanie McCollin, a member of The Barbados Police Force, in the execution of her duty, and possessing and importing three grammes of cannabis.

The court heard that while on the flight, McElwee put her hands in the face of a crew member while swearing and acting aggressively and refusing to comply with directions. Police on duty at the airport were summoned as the captain asked that McElwee be removed for the safety of the crew and other passengers. She had to be restrained after resisting police and was taken off the flight. Officers conducted a search of her luggage at the airport police station and found a package of what was suspected to be liquefied cannabis.

McElwee told officers, “That is to relax me.”

An object was also found under her breast, and the accused placed it in her mouth and refused to give it to the officer, who tried to take it. The accused pushed the officer, saying she had nothing in her mouth.

Agreeing that bad behaviour should not be condoned, defence attorney Mohia Ma’at urged the court to consider the nine days his client spent at Dodds Prison as an appropriate sentence for her “wrongdoings”.

“She got a costume, but never got to wear it . . . . She had to visit the hospital, she could not get the food eaten, her blood pressure is high in the air and tests indicated that she had a mild heart attack while in Barbados,” he stated, while explaining that McElwee had worked for over a decade as a mental health therapist and was responsible for taking care of her father.

McElwee told the court: “I apologise to all of those I offended by my behaviour—the crew, the guards, the sergeant, the passengers for saying those cuss words and my disrespect.”

Insisting that individuals could not act as they pleased and “go on their merry way,” Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes ordered that McElwee pay the police officer $2 000 in compensation in seven days or spend 30 days in jail. He convicted, reprimanded and discharged her on all the other offences.

She will return to court on Monday. (JB)