| Greg McDonald |
19th February 2010 02:10 PM |
Woman fined for breaching security.
From NEWS.COM.AU:
Quote:
A WOMAN who broke through a security gate at Brisbane airport to catch a closed flight says she is "just a mum, not a terrorist".
Natalie Davenport, from Cairns, had pleaded guilty to illegally cracking a plastic case to release an airbridge security gate and trying to board a Jetstar flight on January 12.
The mother of an autistic child said she had been in a panic to get home to her eight-year-old daughter.
"I respect that they call it a sterile zone and all that terrorism stuff and if there was a real threat, they need to keep the community protected," Davenport told The Cairns Post.
"What I did breached their way of protecting anyone… but they had nothing to worry about from me because I’m just a mum, not a terrorist".
Davenport told Magistrate Joe Pinder she had been running late for her 6.30am flight home after a friend dropped her at the wrong end of the airport.
When she saw the plane had not left yet, even though the gate was closed, she searched with no success for some Jetstar staff to plead her case.
Then, in desperation, she broke the plastic case and pressed the emergency release button on the gate.
"All I saw was ‘press here’ – obviously logic had gone out of my mind," Davenport said. She then ran down the airbridge before being stopped by an attendant who demanded to know how she had got through and called security.
Davenport’s rash act then saw her hauled off the flight and interviewed by federal police before being charged with illegally entering an airside area of an airport and fined $350.
Although the federal charge carries a maximum penalty of $5000, Mr Pinder took into account Davenport’s lack of criminal history and her explanation, even though he said her conduct had been "extraordinarily inappropriate".
"Even accepting your explanation, your conduct was not only highly inappropriate it was potentially dangerous," he said.
Commonwealth prosecutor Greg Williams said the conduct had posed a risk to the safety and security of aircraft staff and passengers.
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I understand her situation but I don't think the fine was heavy enough. |
