A British professional golfer has been fined £3,400 after ‘drunkenly’ attacking police who tasered her friend after they were blocked from boarding an EasyJet flight in Malta.
Cloe May Frankish, 25 from Kent, and John Chinedu Uche, 31 from London, admitted to assaulting and disobeying police, breaching the public peace, and being in a state of intoxication while at the Malta International Airport earlier this month.
Frankish was also charged with causing damage to a door and slightly injuring police sergeant Amanda Pickard at a Maltese court, as reported by the Times of Malta.
A Magistrate heard that the fracas broke out as Frankish and her friend tried to board a flight drunk at around 9pm on June 12. When they ignored cabin crew instructions, police were called in – and required backup from the Rapid Intervention Unit.
As the pair were taken to the airport’s police station, the pair were said to have continued to have acted aggressively, leading to police tasering Uche. Prosecutors said Frankish broke a wooden door in the ruckus, causing 436 euros (£369) worth of damage, for which she was also charged.
Cloe May is a professional English golfer, posting to an audience of 16,000 fans on Instagram
She and a friend admitted to assaulting and disobeying police at Malta Int’l Airport
Cloe was ordered to pay a fine of £3,400, while her companion was fined around £5,100
File photo. May and her companion were taken to a police station at the airport
Uche was charged with insulting and threatening police officers during the incident and fined €6,000 (around £5,100) for his involvement.
Magistrate Abigail Critien noted that both pleaded guilty to the charges against them at an early stage of the proceedings.
Frankish was ordered to pay damages and was issued a restraining order not to approach sergeant Pickard for one year.
Both had been accused of violently resisting arrest, disobeying legitimate police orders, breaching the peace, being drunk and disorderly on a passenger aircraft and disobeying orders to disembark.
A court was told that officers had to taser Uche several times, and that Frankish had kicked and broken property at the police station, as reported by Malta Today.
A woodworks company estimated the value of the damage to be €436 (£369).
Frankish allegedly told police that she was pregnant, which was later determined to be untrue following a medical examination.
Police nonetheless noted that Frankish had been cooperative with them during after the clashes – but described Uche’s behaviour as ‘catastrophic’.
Earlier this month, it was reported that the pair initially pleaded guilty before the magistrate determined they did not appear to understand what the plea meant.
Magistrate Critien said the court ‘was not convinced that they understood such guilty plea’ and as such could not assume responsibility for it.
After consulting with their lawyer, they changed their plea to not guilty and were held in custody.
The fines and damages floated at an earlier hearing would have exceeded the combined daily withdrawal limits of all the cards they had available.
‘You need to understand that logistically, we need to confirm that payment has been made,’ Critien explained.
Cloe (pictured) and her companion were both fined for the incident on June 12
File photo. Frankish and her friend ignored cabin crew instructions before police were called
A court was told that officers had to taser Uche several times, and that Frankish had kicked and broken property at the police station
No bail was requested at the arraignment stage earlier this month.
Cloe May is a professional golfer originally hailing from Maidstone, according to her Ladies European Tour profile.
She is recorded as having seven top ten finishes from 82 tournaments played since going pro in 2017.
MailOnline contacted a representative for Ms Frankish for comment.
MailOnline contacted easyJet for comment.
