A WOMAN who caused scenes on a Cork to Liverpool Ryanair flight in 2017 — that were variously described as ‘disgusting’ and ‘upsetting’ — has appeared back in court in England on charges of assault relating to a more recent incident.
According to CorkBeo, Keisha Harty fled to Cork after assaulting a homeless woman with a broken wine glass in Liverpool on New Year's Eve in 2019.
She was arrested and charged in relation to the attack by Merseyside Police, but fled to Cork from Liverpool before being brought to court on foot of an arrest warrant issued by Merseyside Police.
When the 26-year-old Harty was arrested in Cork on shoplifting charges, in a Cork city suburb, the arrest warrant was triggered.
The warrant was in connection with charges related to a violent assault in Liverpool.
Harty has now been jailed for five-and-a-half years – two thirds of which must be served before she becomes eligible for release on licence – after attacking a homeless person, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how Harty "suddenly and without warning" overturned a dining table and began grabbing the victim’s hair during a 2019 New Year’s Eve party. The court heard how she had "lunged forward" at the victim with a wine glass that had been smashed during the altercation and struck her in the face. Harty had been drinking vodka.
The victim was left with a "deep laceration to the right side of her face which was bleeding profusely".
Defence lawyer Tom Challinor, quoted in the Liverpool Echo, said: "Ms Harty understands what she is to be sentenced for and she accepts what she is to be sentenced for – it is a courageous plea and one which spares the victim the final ordeal of being put through a contested trial.
"The offence is completely out of character. What seems to have gone wrong for Ms Harty is that she became involved in two relationships, one after the other, which were particularly difficult.
"That is an understatement. They were physically violent and emotionally traumatic relationships."
In the previous incident which took place on a flight between Cork and Liverpool in 2017, Harty had drunkenly screamed at cabin crew and forced a pregnant woman to move from her seat. She was described as "unsteady on her feet, screaming and shouting and falling on other passengers near her".
Judge Neil Flewitt heard that Keisha Harty subjected her fellow Ryanair passengers to a tirade of drunken shouting, and causing upset and fear amon the other passengers.
After police boarded the flight she then began "violently ripping out her hair extensions".
After being removed, Harty then urinated in the police van.
