British man fined S$5K for verbally abusing staff & destroying property at Changi Airport over misplaced phone

British man verbally abused staff & destroyed airport property over misplaced phone, fined S$5000

A British man caused chaos at Changi Airport Terminal 3 after misplacing his mobile phone — only to later find it under his airplane seat.

His outburst, which included verbally abusing staff and damaging airport property, landed him a $5,000 fine.

Man wreaks havoc at Changi Airport over missing phone

On 7 March at 11.40pm, 57-year-old Richard Michael Roll Burridge boarded a Singapore Airlines flight bound for London.

Moments before departure, he realised his mobile phone was missing.

Using another device, he contacted his wife, who traced the phone to a departure transit lounge. Burridge immediately alerted the cabin crew and disembarked to search for it at 11.43pm.

In the gate hold room, an airline staff member informed him that lounge employees were unable to locate the device. She also warned him that if he left the area, he risked being offloaded due to the flight’s imminent departure.

Frustrated, Burridge lashed out at the staff, hurling vulgarities at her. In his fury, he also kicked an aerobridge wall panel, causing over S$1,600 in damages.

As a result of his aggressive behaviour, Burridge was offloaded from the flight anyway. He later reboarded another plane, where he found his phone tucked under his airplane seat all along.

British man fined for airport actions

Burridge pleaded guilty to harassment and mischief, leading to a S$2,500 fine for each offence — a total of S$5,000. He has since paid the full amount.

Assistant Commissioner M. Malathi, Commander of the Airport Police Division, emphasised that any abusive behaviour towards staff is unacceptable, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) stated.

“Any form of harassment or abusive behaviour toward airport and airline staff is not tolerated as it disrupts airport operations and jeopardises the safety of the staff and their ability to perform their duties effectively,” she said.

Also read: Man goes on drunken rampage at Dublin Airport after missing flight, caused ‘significant damage’ 

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Featured image adapted from Linkedin and MS News.