A man who bit a police officer after shouting racial abuse on a plane has avoided jail.
Kieran Croxley prompted police to be called to Gatwick Airport on May 18 when he began abusing crew aboard his easyJet flight travelling from Faro, Portugal.
On board, Kieran Croxley had been abusive to cabin crew and used racist language when he was asked to sit down and put his seat belt on in preparation for landing.
As the plane landed, officers boarded and asked Croxley to follow them.
However the 44-year-old Londoner swore at them and became abusive towards them, reports Get Surrey .
When they tried to arrest the labourer, he bit one officer's hand and dug his nails into another. He then tried to bite a third officer on his way to custody.
Croxley, of Southwark, was charged with using threatening or abusive words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress; behaving in a threatening, abusive, insulting or disorderly manner towards aircraft crew; and three counts of assault on an emergency worker.
On Thursday at Crawley Magistrates' Court he pleaded guilty to all five offences.
He was sentenced to 16 weeks' in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.
He was also ordered to pay a £900 fine, £450 costs and £325 in compensation to the officers.
Inspector James Biggs, of the Gatwick Prevention Team at Sussex Police, said: "This sort of behaviour is completely unacceptable. No member of aircraft crew, nor their passengers, should have to experience such abuse. Nor should any emergency worker expect to be assaulted for simply carrying out their duties.
"This case should serve as a reminder to passengers of their responsibilities before they board an aircraft. Incidents of drunken and disruptive behaviour will not be tolerated, and anyone who compromises this will be dealt with robustly."
The Gatwick Prevention Team ran Operation Disrupt during the summer months to tackle drunk and disruptive passengers. It resulted in 51 arrests between May 1 and August 31.
