A Norwegian man angrily climbed onto a baggage conveyor belt at Sydney airport after he learned that his flight from Sydney to Melbourne had been cancelled, seizing Tiger`s female staff and slapping her in the face. He was eventually taken away by the police and charged with assault.
The man`s name is Isam Abduljabbar Mankhi Al-Kuhaili, 55 years old. On April 21, when he learned that his flight had been cancelled, he yelled in Arabic, insulting the 26-year-old Tiger Airlines woman, and then angrily climbed onto the luggage conveyor belt and slapped the female employee a few times.
On Wednesday, the Waverley District Court in Sydney heard the case. Judge Lisa Stapleton convicted the man of the crime, but there was no further fine.
The man`s defense lawyer said defendant had intended to come to Australia to meet his sister, but before he arrived in Sydney to meet her, his sister was diagnosed with cancer and died in a Sydney hospital.
So his defense lawyer claimed that it was because defendant`s sister had just passed away, his mood was very low, coupled with his history of paranoia and depression, this kind of mood is out of control to hit people.
At the same time, lawyers also said that defendant did not want to transfer to other flights that day, because of his religious beliefs.
According to the federal police, the female employee who was attacked was a Muslim, and the whole person was depressed after the attack.
Judge Stapleton said in court: "fortunately, the attack did not cause long-term (psychological) damage to the victims."
Al-Kuhaili was arrested on the spot by the police and then taken to the Mascot police station for interrogation. Later in the day, Al-Kuhaili, who was bailed out, ran back to Tiger`s departure terminal to book another flight, but was rejected by Tiger Airlines staff and informed police.
Tiger Airlines also said on Wednesday that it would adopt a zero-tolerance approach to any type of misconduct. Tiger Airlines also said in its public statement: "the personal safety of employees and customers is our all-time protection of the standard of work, and this is absolutely not compromise."
