Man banned from Gatwick Airport after assaulting police officer
He refused to leave despite being in breach of a written prohibition
A Crawley man described as a 'persistent nuisance' to staff at Gatwick Airport has been banned from the site after assaulting a police officer there.
Louis Felicite attacked PC Stuart Halfpenny at the site on December 17th after refusing to leave.
PC Halfpenny saw Felicite at a closed coffee seating area in South Terminal Arrivals and told him to leave as he had been given the written notice by Gatwick Airport Ltd under Airport Byelaws and the 1986 Airports Act.
Felicite refused to leave and was arrested for breaching the prohibition but resisted, kicking the officer's leg, and had to be restrained for some time before calming and being taken to custody.
Appearing at Crawley Magistrates' Court on December 18th, the unemployed 26-year-old of Iveagh Close pleaded guilty to assault and being in the airport in breach of a written prohibition by the airport management.
He was handed a 12-month Community Protection Order (CPN), prhobiting him from entering the airport, and fined a total of £284.
He was fined a total of £284 and police then gave him the 12-month CPN, prohibiting him from the entering the Airport.
Breach of the CPN can result in the court issuing a Criminal Behaviour Order, failure to comply with which can result in a prison sentence.
Sergeant Ian Hatcher of Sussex Police said;
"This man has been a persistent nuisance to staff and passengers in the public areas of the Airport over the course of the past year.
"He has been coming here on multiple occasions, without any legitimate reason."