A MAN who threatened to kill a Ryanair worker at Alicante-Elche airport over his oversized suitcase has been given a three-month prison term.
The 40-year-old, who resides in Javea, was also fined €180 and ordered to pay €3,505 in compensation to the employee plus court costs.
The jail sentence was suspended for two years.
READ MORE:
- Warning for holidaymakers visiting Spain as Ryanair scraps printed boarding passes
- Boozy Brit dragged off Spain-bound Ryanair flight after ‘trying to open door’ parties in Benidorm hours later
- Ryanair makes welcome changes to carry-on luggage size after bruising battle with Spain’s airports
A plea deal was negotiated and sentencing handed down in September by an Elche court.
The incident happened on July 15, 2021 in the check-in area of Alicante-Elche airport.
The passenger, who was travelling with his daughter, 12, to Germany, lost his temper when he was told that one of his suitcases was too big to be classified as carry-on cabin luggage.
A female Ryanair staff member asked the man to put the case into the luggage size checker, at which point he started verbally assaulting her.
He also threw the case into the air and slammed it into the ground several times.
The irate traveller then grabbed the employee’s neck and slammed her against the glass counter.
As a result, she required medical and psychiatric treatment that lasted for 128 days.
The shift supervisor tried to intervene and was also assaulted.
During the altercation, the passenger uttered expressions such as: “You’re all sons of bitches, be careful what you’re doing” and “I’ll remember your faces, and you’ll remember mine too, because I’m going to kill you.”
The Policia Nacional were called and found the man and his daughter waiting for a bus.
He claimed to live outside Spain and had no fixed address in the country but officers discovered that was not the case as he lived in Javea with his wife.
The man spent a night in jail before being bailed following a court appearance.
His nationality has not been disclosed.
Click here to read more Costa Blanca News from The Olive Press.
