One bottle of whisky later: Drunk British man's actions trigger anti-hijack alarm at Changi Airport, get him jailed

After downing an entire 700ml bottle of whiskey, a drunken British man triggered an anti-hijack alarm at Changi Airport and delayed a Scoot flight by 53 minutes after forcing his way towards the aircraft when he was denied boarding.

Arudchelvan Karnan, 25, was sentenced to eight weeks' jail and fined $2,800 on Wednesday (Sept 2).

He pleaded guilty to a harassment charge, a public drunkenness charge and one count of unlawfully entering a protected place.

Court documents obtained by AsiaOne stated he had flown down from Sydney, Australia, on July 19 and stayed at a hotel in Little India for the night before his flight to Malaysia the next day.

At about 9am the next morning, Arudchelvan drank an entire 700ml bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey at his hotel and became drunk before heading to the airport.

By 3.30pm, he had arrived at Changi Airport Terminal 1, cleared immigration and proceeded to Gate C17 in the departure hall to board his flight.

He began talking and shouting loudly at the boarding gate, annoying other passengers. Two passenges informed a Scoot employee about his behaviour and she approached Arudchelvan, who had his earphones on.

He verbally abused the employee with vulgarities and accused her of being a racist, before he continued shouting to himself.

Arudchelvan approached the counter but another Scoot employee informed him that he was not allowed to board the flight. She extended a connecting strip across two bollards and stood behind them to prevent him from boarding the flight.

However, he ducked under the strip and headed towards the aerobridge, pushing the employee and causing her to fall.

The employee alerted a nearby security officer who pressed the anti-hijack button and requested assistance from the Airport Police Division.

Arudchelvan was unable to board the flight after the anti-hijack door closed.

He was escorted away by an auxiliary police officer, during which he began ranting with vulgarities about Singapore and Malaysia, adding that he wanted to return to England.

"I want England. Take me to England right now," he shouted towards the officer.

Arudchelvan was arrested thereafter and the Health Sciences Authority found 62mg/100ml of ethanol in his blood specimen.

The DPP sought to sentence him to fines and up to 12 weeks' jail, stressing that Arudchelvan had posed a security risk to the passengers of Flight TR472 and the officers within a sensitive facility.

He added that Arudchelvan's actions caused significant disruption to the passengers of TR472 and even prevented a passenger from boarding the flight during the time as he was stranded at the aerobridge after the anti-hijack button had been pressed.

laili.abdeen@asiaone.com

一名醉酒的英国男子在樟宜机场喝下一整瓶 700 毫升的威士忌后，触发了防劫机警报，并在被拒绝登机后强行接近飞机，导致酷航航班延误 53 分钟。

25 岁的 Arudchelvan Karnan 于周三（9 月 2 日）被判处 8 周监禁并罚款 2800 美元。

他承认犯有骚扰罪、公共场合醉酒罪和非法闯入受保护场所罪。

亚洲新闻网获得的法庭文件显示，他于 7 月 19 日从澳大利亚悉尼飞抵马来西亚，并在小印度的一家酒店住了一晚，第二天搭乘飞机前往马来西亚。

第二天早上9点左右，阿鲁切尔万在酒店喝完了一整瓶700毫升的杰克丹尼威士忌，喝得酩酊大醉，然后才前往机场。

下午 3 点 30 分，他抵达樟宜机场 1 号航站楼，办理了入境手续，然后前往出发大厅的 C17 号登机口登机。

他在登机口大声喧哗，打扰了其他乘客。两名乘客将他的行为告知了酷航的一名工作人员，工作人员随即上前询问戴着耳机的阿鲁切尔万。

他用粗俗的语言辱骂这名员工，并指责她是种族主义者，然后继续自言自语地大喊大叫。

阿鲁切尔万走到柜台前，但另一名酷航员工告诉他，他不能登机。她拉起一条连接带横跨两个路障，站在路障后面，阻止他登机。

然而，他却从跑道下方钻过去，朝登机桥走去，推了那名员工一把，导致她摔倒在地。

该员工立即通知了附近的一名保安人员，该保安人员按下了防劫机按钮，并请求机场警察部门的协助。

防劫机舱门关闭后，阿鲁切尔万无法登机。

他被一名辅警带走，期间他开始用粗俗的语言辱骂新加坡和马来西亚，并表示他想返回英国。

“我要去英国。立刻带我去英国！”他朝警官喊道。

随后，阿鲁切尔万被逮捕，卫生科学局在其血液样本中发现了 62 毫克/100 毫升的乙醇。

检方寻求判处他罚款和最高 12 周的监禁，并强调 Arudchelvan 对 TR472 航班的乘客和敏感设施内的官员构成了安全风险。

他还补充说，阿鲁切尔万的行为给TR472航班的乘客造成了严重的干扰，甚至导致一名乘客在反劫机按钮被按下后滞留在廊桥上，无法登机。

laili.abdeen@asiaone.com