Carberry denies breach of peace on plane
Paul Carberry today pleaded not guilty to a charge of breaching the peace on board a flight from Spain.
The 31-year-old allegedly set fire to a friend’s newspaper on an Aer Lingus flight returning to Dublin from Malaga on October 1.
At Swords District Court in Dublin, Judge JP McDonnell told Carberry he was charged with engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour under the Air Navigation and Transport Act, 1973 and 1998.
He asked Carberry how he pleaded and the jockey replied ‘not guilty’.
It was Carberry’s third appearance in court in connection with the incident, with the previous hearing last October being put back to await instructions from the Director of Public Prosecution on possible further charges.
A representative for the DPP informed the court there would be no further charges and there would be about seven witnesses for the prosecution. They include some of the crew members who were on board the Aer Lingus flight when the incident occurred.
Barrister Amanda Connolly, representing Carberry, said she would be calling three defence witnesses during the trial, which is expected to last half a day.
Judge McDonnell set the date for the trial at May 22 next year in Swords District Court and added the case would be brought up for mention on April 25 to confirm this date.
Ms Connolly asked if Carberry could be excused from appearing on April 25 - the first day of the Punchestown Festival – and this was granted without any objection from the State.
She also asked the prosecuting officer, Garda Noel Donnelly of Dublin Airport Garda Station, to provide a missing certificate before the next hearing and he agreed to do so.
Carberry, who was accompanied by his father Tommy, sat quietly at the back of the court for more than an hour while Judge McDonnell dealt with a series of other cases.
When his case was called, he stood before Judge McDonnell with his hands behind his back. He was dressed in black trousers, a checked shirt and tie and a navy padded jacket which made his slight frame appear far larger.
The jockey, from Rathfeigh, Tara, Co Meath, was arrested at Dublin Airport when the plane landed in the afternoon of October 1.
At a previous hearing, he insisted the incident was not a joke and that there was no drink involved.
