Man's shameless two words as he's arrested immediately after Jet2 flight lands at UK airport

Jack Breheny, 32, from Burnage, was spared an immediate jail sentence after he told a court he was 'deeply ashamed' of his behaviour on a flight from Spain to Manchester last October

A drunk Jet2 passenger who tried to expose himself in front of horrified travellers uttered a flippant two words when he was arrested by police.

Jack Breheny, 32, who was returning from a trip to Salou in Spain to get over a break-up, was spared an immediate jail sentence after he told a court he was "deeply ashamed". At around 10pm on October 3 last year, police were called to the aircraft as soon as it landed at Manchester Airport in response to reports of a 'very intoxicated' passenger seated with his twin brother, armed with 'plastic shards' running amok during the flight.

Prosecutor Hayley Parkes told Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday afternoon that it later emerged he was not, in fact, armed with plastic shards and when police boarded the aircraft officers concluded that "it was immediately obvious that the defendant was heavily intoxicated".

Flight attendants told officers Breheny had been running up and down the plane 'trying to expose himself' in front of shocked passengers, Miss Parkes told the court. The defendant's twin brother "prevented this to an extent", said the prosecutor, but the defendant began "shouting and screaming" and locked himself on a toilet. When crew finally opened the door, they found him seated and fully clothed.

Upon his arrest on arrival in Manchester, the court was told how unemployed Breheny was at first "compliant", offering out his hands to the arresting officers and telling them "take me" before they handcuffed him. But a statement from one of the officers read out in court detailed how the defendant "fell over immediately" in front of him and then began to display 'resistance'.

The man was so drunk he had to be assisted by the arresting officers as they walked him off the aircraft before being loaded onto a waiting police van and driven to the airport police station. However he began making threats to the officers, the prosecutor told the court. Rather than being interviewed, the defendant was placed straight into a police cell "due to the risk" he posed, said Miss Parkes.

Breheny had no previous convictions apart from one reprimand and one caution when he was a youth, the court was told. Defending Breheny Adam Roxborough told the court his client had been on a week-long holiday in Salou, Spain, paid for by the brother to get over a recent break up suffered by the defendant, which he had taken "badly".

"The idea was to have a week's break. That's the context in which this offending took place," said Mr Roxborough. "Mr Breheny accepts this was disgraceful behaviour. He's deeply ashamed," said the barrister.

When Judge Suzanne Goddard KC said it had taken until page 11 of the pre-sentence report for the defendant to say he was sorry, Mr Roxborough said: "He's expressed to me he's deeply ashamed of his behaviour. He knows it will have caused a significant degree of anxiety for a number of people on the flight." Mr Roxborough also told the court his client had been shouting in the toilet 'because he could not in his situation unlock it - that's an indicator of the state of his inebriation'.

The defence lawyer said such offences 'routinely' end in jail sentences but he asked the judge to accept a recommendation in the pre-sentence report penned by the Probation Service that Breheny be handed a community sentence as he had acknowledged he had a 'problem' with drinking and had sought help to address it. He said his client had admitted his guilt at the first opportunity and 'did not seek to prevaricate'.

He also touched an unspecified 'event' in the defendant's younger life which was 'likely to have had a significant impact on his adult life'. The court heard Breheny also consumed cocaine and Mr Roxborough said his client had been 'self-medicating if I can put it that way'.

Judge Goddard told the defendant: "Your behaviour was appalling. It's the sort of behaviour that caused distress and upset for those on the plane having to watch the way you behaved." She also noted there was 'no violence' or threats made on board the aircraft. The judge said there was a "good prospect of rehabilitation" and was "able to stop short" of handing out an immediate prison sentence.

Breheny, of Burnage, Greater Manchester, was handed a six month jail sentence suspended for 18 months after he admitted a single charge of being drunk on an aircraft. He was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activity. He was also told to complete an alcohol treatment program.

"I'm giving you a real opportunity today. If you fail to take it, you will only have yourself to blame," Judge Goddard added.