Irish lawyer who abused, spat on Air India crew found dead at her house

Tribune Web Desk 
Chandigarh, July 4 

An Irish national and human rights lawyer was found dead at her house in England’s East Sussex on June 1. 

According to The Telegraph, 50-year-old Simone Burns allegedly committed suicide. 

Burns is the same lawyer, who was jailed for six months in April this year for spitting at a flight attendant during a foul-mouthed racist rant after she was refused more wine on the Mumbai-London flight. 

Burns was released from Bronzefield women's prison on licence, or parole, on May 20 and was found dead at the foot of the Beachy Head cliffs in the south-east of England, 13 days later.

“The body of a woman found at Beachy Head on June 1 has been identified as that of Simone Burns from Hove,” a Sussex police spokesperson was quoted as saying. 

“The death is not being treated as suspicious and the next of kin have been informed. The matter has been passed to the coroner’s officer,” the spokesperson added.

Following her death, friends said that the sentence had a severe impact on Burns, whose mid-air rant went viral on social media.

In the Air India flight, Burns, who had worked with refugees, went on a racist rant against the flight crew.

Burns was served three bottles of wine on a nine-hour flight, but she demanded more. After, she was refused, Burns went on a racist rant and was caught on camera. 

In the video, the lawyer could be heard saying: “I am working for all your people. The f*****g Rohingyas, the f*****g people of all Asia, for you, an international criminal lawyer. Don’t get any money for it. But you can’t even give me a f*****g glass of wine, is that correct?” 

She also called staff “Indian money-grabbing c***s” and smoked in the lavatories. 

Burns, born in Northern Ireland and living in Hove in England, was also ordered to pay 300 pounds compensation to the person she assaulted, with the judge saying that "spitting straight into a crew member's face at close range is a particularly insulting and upsetting act".

A member of the Air India cabin crew described her conduct as unlike anything he had seen during his 34-year aviation career.

The judge at Isleworth Crown Court said he was satisfied the offence was racially aggravated and the language Burns used would have been extremely upsetting for the airline staff.

Noting Simone Burns' work with refugees around the world, Judge Wood added: "You are a woman, not just of good character but a positive and impeccable character – a righter of wrongs. What this has done, thanks to social media, (has meant) you have had death threats and been a hermit in your home. You are a person who has done good work throughout your life."

Burns' defence lawyer suggested that her actions were due to a "mixture of altitude, the consumption of drink and anxiety" at the fact that she was likely to miss the funeral of an uncle. Mark Kimsey told the court that his client was "totally ashamed of her behaviour".

"This is not a lady who has a drink problem. This is not a woman who has a drug problem. This is totally out of character," he said.