U.K. drops impaired charges against Air Transat pilots

[Lakelad]

.

U.K. prosecutors drop charges against 2 Canadian pilots

Pilots were arrested in 2016 before they were due to fly an Air Transat flight from Glasgow to Toronto

Thu Apr 26, 2018 - The Associated Press

Prosecutors in the United Kingdom have dropped charges against two Canadian pilots accused of preparing to fly a commercial aircraft while under the influence of alcohol after their blood samples were mistakenly destroyed at a Scottish prison.

Prosecutors say there will be no further action against Imran Syed, 39, and Jean-François Perreault, 41, who were arrested July 18, 2016, before they were to pilot an Air Transat flight from Glasgow to Toronto.

Authorities say Syed, from Toronto, was alleged to have had 49 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. Perreault, who is also from Ontario, was alleged to have had 32 milligrams.

Both men have denied the charges.

The flight eventually took off with a different crew the next morning after about 250 passengers spent the night at hotels.

Air Transat had suspended the pilots, but says they will be reinstated because they have been "declared innocent."

"We will be meeting with them in the next few days to plan their reinstatement since there is no charge against them and we have no evidence that they have broken any law nor our internal rules," the airline said. "They will need to undergo retraining and requalification as per applicable legislation, and we will put in place measures to ensure that their behaviour is exemplary."

Prosecutors said they are taking steps to prevent a similar loss of evidence in the future.

"We are working with Police Scotland to ensure there are proper processes and guidance in place covering the retention and storage of samples when an accused person is remanded in custody," they said.

The two were charged under a section of the United Kingdom's Railway and Transport Safety Act that precludes people from conducting aviation functions "when the proportion of alcohol in [their] breath, blood or urine exceeds the prescribed limit."

Canadian aviation regulations prohibit any aircraft crew members from working while intoxicated or within eight hours after having an alcoholic drink.

Air Transat's president said at the time that the carrier would compensate all passengers booked on the flight.

European Union rules stipulate a passenger is entitled to 600 euros ($940 Cdn) in the event a flight longer than 3,500 kilometres is cancelled.

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[Seeker]

The court system is slower in Scotland than Canada - been almost 2 years since these guys were charged. 

[Super 80]

I don't think this is the first crew impairment case in Glasgow to fall apart.

[blues deville]

Kind of odd to find out the evidence was destroyed. And where have these pilots been since July 2016?

[mo32a]

And it sure doesn't make me feel any safer knowing these two goofs are once again going to grace an AT cockpit.

[Super 80]

Given the UK is in the midst of a prosecutorial misconduct scandal that includes the aggressive prosecution of dubious cases and failing to disclose evidence to the defense in those cases I'm going to give these guys the benefit of the doubt.

[AIP]

26 minutes ago, Super 80 said:

Given the UK is in the midst of a prosecutorial misconduct scandal that includes the aggressive prosecution of dubious cases and failing to disclose evidence to the defense in those cases I'm going to give these guys the benefit of the doubt.

Was thinking the same thing.

Whatever happened to Innocent until proven guilty ??  Seems to be the other way around these days

[Airband]

Quote

At a previous hearing, which could not be reported until now, Paisley Sheriff Court heard that both men requested part of their blood samples when they were taken in July 2016 so that they could have them independently analysed.

The samples were among their belongings when they arrived at HMP Low Moss on July 19 2016, however prison staff did not know what to do with them.

Paul Scoular, security manager at the prison, working for the Scottish Prison Service, said he was concerned the blood samples might no longer be of any worth because they had not been in cold storage.

He discussed his concerns with the pilots and said both men gave him their consent for the samples, known as B, to be destroyed.

Mr Scoular passed the samples to the prison nurse who put them in a locked drawer and later destroyed them when she heard the two pilots had been released from the prison.

Giving evidence himself, Mr Perreault said he did not give permission for his blood sample to be destroyed.

He told the court: "I wanted to have my blood sample analysed."

Following a hearing at Paisley Sheriff Court in September, Sheriff James Spy ruled that the samples were available for independent analysis at the time and that police and the Crown were not responsible for what happened to them later, and that the case could proceed.

However the defence appealed against his decision, arguing that the blood samples should be inadmissible as evidence.

In February the Sheriff rejected the appeal, however the case then went to the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh where the defence won their appeal, with judges saying the Sheriff ought to have ruled that sample B was not admissible.

On Thursday it was confirmed that the case has fallen.

A Crown Office spokesman said: "It is the duty of the Crown to keep cases under review. After full and careful consideration of the facts and circumstances, including the recent decision of the Court of Appeal, Crown Counsel instructed there should be no further proceedings at this time.

"We are working with Police Scotland to ensure there are proper processes and guidance in place covering the retention and storage of samples when an accused person is remanded in custody."

 

[Kip Powick]

 both men requested part of their blood samples when they were taken in July 2016 so that they could have them independently analysed.

That seems fair enough

 

Paul Scoular, security manager at the prison, working for the Scottish Prison Service, said he was concerned the blood samples might no longer be of any worth because they had not been in cold storage.He discussed his concerns with the pilots and said both men gave him their consent for the samples, known as B, to be destroyed.

Ok, so the samples the pilots took to the prison were later destroyed, apparently with the consent of the pilots... and then later.....

Giving evidence himself, Mr Perreault (pilot) said he did not give permission for his blood sample to be destroyed. He told the court: "I wanted to have my blood sample analysed."

So what really happened was that the blood taken by the police, showed alcohol content but the samples from the "contaminated blood"  taken by the two pilots  were destroyed at the prison so the lawyer for the pilots said, basically, that because the samples taken, from the original blood drawings of the pilots was destroyed and failed to be analysed, therefore the original blood samples could not be used alone to convict the pilots and his reasoning was upheld by the court of appeal...

 

My-my...what a strange sequence of events.