Man sentenced for assaulting police officer at Gatwick

A Crawley man who assaulted a police officer after being told to leave Gatwick Airport has been given a Community Protection Notice (CPN) which put him a step closer to prison if he breaches it.  

Louis Felicite, 26, unemployed, of Iveagh Close, Crawley, pleaded guilty at Crawley Magistrates Court on 18 December to assaulting PC Stuart Halfpenny by beating, and to being in the Airport in breach of a written prohibition from the Airport management.

He was fined a total of £284 and police then gave him the 12-month CPN, prohibiting him from the entering the Airport.  Breach of the CPN can result in the court issuing a Criminal Behaviour Order, failure to comply with which can result in a prison sentence.

The officer saw Felicite at a closed coffee seating area in South Terminal Arrivals on 17 December and told him to leave as he had been given the written notice by Gatwick Airport Ltd under Airport Byelaws and the 1986 Airports Act. 

Felicite refused to leave and was arrested for breaching the prohibition but resisted, kicking the officer's leg, and had to be restrained for some time before calming and being taken to custody. 

Sergeant Ian Hatcher said; "This man has been a persistent nuisance to staff and passengers in the public areas of the Airport over the course of the past year. He wasbeen coming here on multiple occasions, without any legitimate reason."