On the second occasion, Russell Payne, 52, who was naked from the waist down, was apprehended for his own safety as he tried to climb out via a fence that was topped with barbed wire.
In the Magistrate’s Court yesterday he denied two breaches of the aviation security order, behaving in an indecent manner, indecent exposure, assaulting an airport firefighter, and resisting police officers in the due execution of their duties.
Crown Advocate Fiona Russell told the court how both incidents occurred on a Saturday and Sunday morning last October.
On the first occasion, the defendant was captured on CCTV at 5am walking across the runway and on to the apron at the rear of the terminal where aircraft had been parked overnight.
He walked to the baggage unloading area where he was challenged from the other side of the fence by a security officer who had just arrived for work. He was taken in to the terminal by airport staff while they waited for the police to arrive. Opening of the airport had to be delayed as security checks had to be carried out in the areas he had accessed.
Payne was released from the Police Station pending further enquiries at 8.30am.
At about 9.30am the next day, the court was told that a person who lives on the northern boundary of the airport near Specsavers saw the defendant, who was wearing only a blue T-shirt and was naked from the waist down, climbing the fence and again entering the restricted zone. She filmed it on her mobile phone and footage was shown to the court.
An aircraft was approaching at the time which had to be diverted and flying was suspended. Payne was seen to walk across the runway and was confronted by firefighters as he approached the aircraft apron.
He was agitated and un-cooperative and would not stop walking when asked, the court heard. After going in to a corner near the terminal he tried to climb a fence. A firefighter pulled him back by his shirt for his own safety as the fence was topped with barbed wire. He said he was thirsty and asked for water. When provided with a bottle it was alleged that he threw the water over one of the airport firefighters before striking out at him. It was alleged that he resisted arrest when police arrived and had to be taken to the ground.
A watch manager at the Airport Fire Service told the court how he had been called to the watch room that morning following reports that a man had walked across the runway. He drove with a colleague towards the man who was wearing only a blue T-shirt. The man was determined to keep going and refused to stop, he said. He was rolling a gold bracelet in his fingers. The watch manager said that once he had got out of the vehicle he had to step aside as he thought the defendant might hit him.
‘He was telling me to leave him alone and saying he was doing it for his mother,’ he told the court. At one point Payne had put the bracelet in his mouth and he feared he was trying to swallow it.
He told how his colleague had prevented the defendant from climbing the fence and how airport firefighters had helped detain him when he was on the ground. The defendant denied putting the bracelet in his mouth.
In his cross-examination of witnesses, Payne, who represented himself, suggested there was no signage in the area where he had climbed the fence to suggest he was entering the airport. The witnesses said there was signage around the whole perimeter making it clear that people should not enter the area.
The case continues today.
