Posted on June 20, 2008

Naomi Campbell Gets 200 Hours for ‘Air Rage’

Gregory Katz, AP, June 20, 2008

Temperamental model Naomi Campbell was sentenced to 200 hours of community service Friday after pleading guilty to assaulting two police officers after an “air rage” incident at Heathrow Airport.

She was also ordered to pay 200 pounds ($400) to each of the police officers she attacked and 150 pounds ($300) to Miles Sutherland, the captain of the British Airways plane she disrupted, in addition to a 2,300 pound ($4,600) fine.

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Campbell was traveling in first class and became abusive to the captain after he left the cockpit to personally explain to her why her bag—and those of many other travelers—had not been placed on the flight.

Prosecutors said she shouted a number of obscenities and tried to kick the police who were summoned to remove her after she “ordered” Sutherland to delay takeoff and look for her missing piece of luggage.

At one point, the black model accused the airline staff of being racist and said they would not have removed her from the flight if she was white. She told a white policewoman that the only reason she was being arrested was because she was “black and famous” and threatened to sue.

Magistrate Peter Yiacoumi told Campbell that she was getting credit for past good behavior and for pleading guilty at the first hearing, but said the crimes could not go unpunished. Prosecutors said she kicked and spat at police officers, used foul language repeatedly, and had to be removed from the plane.

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In the past, Campbell has been charged with throwing objects at members of her staff.

Last year, she was sentenced to a week of community service spent mopping floors and cleaning bathrooms in New York City after admitting “reckless assault” for throwing a mobile phone at her housekeeper.

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