A French national was fined in Magistrates’ Court today after he admitted being drunk and smoking on a British Airways flight.

Thierry Muller, 45, pleaded guilty to being drunk in an aircraft, smoking in an aircraft and failing to comply with orders from flight attendants to stop drinking.

Muller, a technician from north east France, was travelling to the Island to work at the Tynes Bay Incinerator.

His work permit has now been revoked.

A translator for Muller told the Court that he had never flown before, and couldn’t understand the directions of the flight crew.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner ordered Muller to pay a $4,000 fine or spend three months in prison.

For the full story, read tomorrow’s Royal Gazette .