Flight attendant who was off her trolley

Stephanie Partington had gone out the night before and was drinking until the early hours of the morning. Photo / Thinkstock

As an air stewardess, Stephanie Partington's duties included calming down noisy and over-refreshed passengers. But on one particular flight back to Britain it was her own drunken behaviour which caused the problem.

The 24-year-old was so loud as she served passengers at the back of the 300-seat Boeing 777 that the purser had to ask her to quieten down.

Suspicions were raised further when routine paperwork she filled out at the end of the seven-hour flight from Dubai to Birmingham was illegible.

The captain of the Emirates flight radioed ahead for police who met the plane when it landed.

Partington, from Liverpool, who insisted she had not been drinking during the flight, was arrested when she failed a breath test.

Further procedures revealed she had 164mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood twice the drink-drive limit of 80mg and eight times the legal limit of 20mg for flight attendants under aviation law. Charged under the Civil Aviation Act, Partington admitted allowing her capacity to act to be impaired through drink and was fined £110, with £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Prosecutor Fiona Davis told Solihull magistrates: She was working at the back of the plane and during the flight the purser became aware she was very loud and had to ask to quieten her down.

At the end of the flight she was required to fill in paperwork and the purser noticed her handwriting was very bad and what she wrote was illegible. The purser was concerned about her behaviour.

She added the captain believed Partington - whose Facebook page shows her partying with a glass of champagne - was drunk and asked for police officers to attend.

Lois Cullen, defending, said Partington, who had recently joined Emirates, was on a rest day in Dubai in April when she was asked to work at short notice.

She had gone out the night before and was drinking until the early hours of the morning.

At noon she got a call asking if she was available to staff a flight to Birmingham at 3pm.

She wanted to make a good impression and said she was available.

She was also keen to take a flight to the UK so she could see her friends and family.

Miss Cullen said Partington disputed the pursers claim that she had not performed her duties professionally.

My client felt she did perform her duties reasonably and, in fact, one of the passengers praised her for being helpful and attentive.

Partington had already been sacked from the airline before the court appearance and is now on Jobseekers Allowance.

She refused to comment as she left court.

Emirates - the Middle Easts largest airline which markets itself as a leader in service excellence - also declined to discuss the case.

- Daily Mail