Two Canadian nationals, who admitted to "air rage" earlier this week and were prevented from boarding a flight at Shannon Airport on Tuesday, were allowed to return to New York yesterday.
The US embassy in Dublin has confirmed that Mr Warren Clamen (39) and Mr Guy Saint Arnaud (42), both from Canada but now living in New York, were allowed to board a flight yesterday at Shannon after being grounded by US immigration officials on Tuesday when they first tried to return home.
It had been thought they would have to plead their case in the US embassy, but the issues were resolved at Shannon yesterday. They had already spent three nights in Limerick Prison and two further nights in a local hotel.
On Monday, the two New York-based professional men received suspended prison sentences totalling nine months and 12 months and were also fined €6,200 and €5,550 respectively, almost the maximum financial penalty on the charges.
Both avoided prison sentences only because they offered to pay $20,000 compensation to American Airlines and also agreed to pay $12,000 each into the court fund.
Judge Joseph Mangan ordered that the International Civil Aviation Organisation in Montreal be notified of the details of the case, notwithstanding that an appeal has been lodged. However, that order could be the subject of a High Court challenge. The men were banned from flying for two years but this will also be appealed.
They had been travelling from New York to London on American Airlines flight 122 last Friday when the aircraft was forced to divert to Shannon following two incidents on board. Three cabin crew members were assaulted during the disturbances.
The cost of making the unscheduled stop at Shannon was $10,575, while the cost of repairing damage caused on board the aircraft totalled $9,233.
A cheque for the total amount was presented in court and will be forwarded to American Airlines by the gardaí.
The total cost of compensation, fines and contributions to the court fund is almost €50,000.