Mother-of-three is spared jail for a FOURTH time for attacking police

Mother-of-three who assaulted police officers after getting drunk on a Ryanair flight from Fuerteventura to Manchester is spared jail for a FOURTH time

• Jessica Horne, 33, also racially abused a cabin crew member while on the flight

A mother-of-three has been spared jail for a fourth time after attacking police – this time after assaulting two officers when she got drunk on board an airplane.

Jessica Horne, 33, also racially abused a cabin crew member while flying on a Ryanair jet from Fuerteventura to Manchester in March 2022.

Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard how Horne – who has three previous convictions for attacking police – had been drinking all day before boarding the 8pm flight and had also bought a bottle of Grey Goose vodka to drink on board.

Lisa Boocock, prosecuting, said that mid way through the flight an ‘intoxicated’ Horne, who was travelling with her partner and their young son, was spotted vaping in her seat.

A male member of crew ‘told her to stop five times’ and eventually took the vape from her.

Mother-of-three Jessica Horne, 33, pictured outside of Minshull Street Crown Court today

Horne pictured appearing outside Wigan Magistrates Court in March earlier this year 

He then guided Horne, who’d got into an argument with her partner, to the rear of the aircraft to calm her down but it had ‘little effect’, Ms Boocock said.

Her partner was so concerned about her behaviour he spoke to the crew member while a ‘Good Samaritan’ gave up their seat in a further attempt to calm the situation.

Horne, of Briercliffe, Burnley, then started to touch the crew member and tried to kiss him on the cheek, the court heard.

She also demanded he return her vape, grabbed him and stroked his name badge, leaving him ‘feeling uncomfortable’.

When the crew member – who is of Fillipino origin – refused, Horne racially abused him calling him a ‘f****** c****’ and a ‘cheeky c****’ several times.

She also told him: ‘Go back home’.

The crew member was left so ‘distressed’, Ms Boocock said, he asked the captain to divert the plane but ‘that wasn’t practical’ and he described the incident as the ‘worst he’d ever had’ with a passenger in four years of flying.

Fortunately, Horne fell asleep 40 minutes before the flight was due to land and was arrested by police when the plane touched down.

But she spat at one officer and punched and scratched another, leaving her with a black eye and cut to the top of her eyelid.

She also swore at them, calling them: ‘C****.’

In a victim impact statement, the female officer said she expected to deal with intoxicated people but the attack had left her explaining her injuries to her family who were already ‘fearful’ about her role.

It had affected her confidence, she said, and she couldn’t understand why she had been assaulted when she was just trying to do her job.

The court heard Horne has a number of previous convictions for similar offences.

In February 2017, she was handed a 12-week curfew after racially abusing a taxi driver and a police officer, who she kicked in the shins.

But the curfew was later lifted so she could could attend a weekend Centre Parcs holiday to celebrate her mum’s 60th birthday.

She also racially abused a cabin crew member while flying on a Ryanair jet from Fuerteventura to Manchester in March 2022

A few months later she attacked two police officers, kicking one in his privates and labelling his female colleague a ‘lesbian c***’, but was given a conditional discharge by magistrates.

In 2018, she walked free from court again for carrying out a third attack on a police officer.

For the latest incident, Horne pleaded guilty to charges of being drunk on an aircraft, two counts of assaulting an emergency worker and of racially aggravated harassment.

The prosecution chose to offer no evidence on a fifth charge of sex assault, which will lie on file.

Christian Kavanagh, defending, said Horne had made ‘drastic changes in her character to address her behaviour’ and was ‘disgusted’ by her actions.

She acknowledged the impact it had on other passengers, he said, and she had a ‘clear motivation’ to address her issues.

The court heard Horne’s drinking had escalated during a previous abusive relationship, which resulted in her partner being jailed twice.

The judge, Mr Recorder Imran Shafi KC, said Horne had a ‘huge problem with alcohol’ and labelled her behaviour ‘disgraceful’.

He said she had acted like she was on ‘private flight and could behave how she felt’ and not on a Ryanair holiday flight with other passengers ‘who had to put up with your behaviour for four hours’.

The judge described her attacks of the two police officers as ‘thuggery’ and said he had considered jailing her but was mindful she had three children aged 3, 9 and ten.

Therefore, he decided to hand Horne an 18-month sentence, suspended for two years, and imposed 90-day rehabilitation order of alcohol abatement and monitoring.

Horne was also ordered to pay the female police officer £1,000 in compensation.

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