Melbourne student guilty of disrupting flight over Tamil deportation

Wayne Flower, Herald Sun-September 2, 2016 3:03am

A QANTAS-hating troublemaker has been asked to repay the national carrier thousands of dollars after disrupting an interstate flight in part of a futile protest.

Do-gooder Jasmine Pilbrow, 22, was charged with interfering with a crew member of an aircraft following her protest on-board a Darwin-bound plane in February last year.

While Magistrate Meagan Keogh had hoped to order the university student to repay $3429 to Qantas to compensate for the delays, she was unable to under Commonwealth law because she chose to defer her sentence.

Instead, Pilbrow was asked to volunteer the cash before being sentenced on November 11.

In April, a defiant Pilbrow called on Qantas to stop participating in the forced domestic transfer of asylum seekers.

“I’d like to encourage Qantas as a company to take a stand and announce they will no longer participate in forcing people with transfers and being deported overseas and encourage them as one of the biggest airline companies in Australia to do that,” she said.

The remorseless time burglar, who is banned from boarding Qantas flights, was today found guilty of interfering with a cabin crew.

Pilbrow delayed the flight after she refused to sit down until a Tamil man, who was being deported to Sri Lanka, was allowed to leave the plane.

In a prosecution headed by Commonwealth prosecutor Holly Baxter, the court heard the charge carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison, but Pilbrow is unlikely to be convicted and placed on a bond if she coughs up Qantas’s cash.

About 30 protesters gathered outside the court to support Pilbrow before her contested hearing.

The group held signs reading: “Stop sending people to danger”; and “Refoulement is the real crime”.

Pilbrow had argued her on-board protest was in response to a “sudden or extraordinary emergency”.

Taking the stand, Pilbrow tried to convince the court her actions were necessary to halt the man being taken back to Sri Lanka where she claimed he faced torture.

In a long winded rant, Pilbrow attempted to educate the magistrate on the plight of the Tamils, complaining Australia was violating its international obligations against torture.

She told the court cabin crew at no stage told her that her non-violent protest was against the law.

Pilbrow openly admitted to disrupting the flight, waiting until everyone was seated before standing up and demanding the man be removed.

Two other passengers, unknown to Pilbrow, spontaneously joined in on the protest, but were not charged.

All three left the plane when Federal Police arrived and escorted the Tamil man off.

He was later deported to Sri Lanka.

Ms Keogh said she accepted Pilbrow had not been aggressive and had conducted herself in a way that did not cause distress to other passengers or harm people.

wayne.flower@news.com.au