Nigel Farage crash pilot given two-year community order

Justin Adams, whose aircraft crashed with Ukip leader on board, made death threats to the politician in aftermath of accident The pilot of a plane that crashed on election day, injuring Ukip leader Nigel Farage, was given a two-year community order today after a court heard his threats to kill the politician were “a cry for help”. Justin Adams, 46, of Faringdon, Oxfordshire, was flying a light aircraft with an election banner in tow on 6 May last year when it nosedived to the ground. Both men suffered “significant injuries” and were treated in hospital, Oxford crown court heard. Adams, a self-employed commercial pilot, lost work in the six months it took for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to investigate the crash. He was unable to have his plane repaired, as insurers would not pay out until the investigation had been completed. As well as being angry about the length of time the investigation took, Adams also felt resentment towards Farage, judge Mr Justice Saunders said. The pilot believed he had lost out on an opportunity to sell his story, having been advised not to speak to the press. He made threats to kill both CAA crash investigator Martin James and Farage, saying he had a gun and could “shoot to kill”, the judge told the court. In April, a jury in found Adams guilty of five counts of making threats to kill. Saunders said Adams was suffering from “a depressive order of moderate severity” triggered by the crash. He told the court: “He was also drinking to excess, which undoubtedly impaired his judgment and affected his behaviour. “I also accept, having heard the evidence in the trial, that to an extent these offences were a cry for help as well as an expression of anger and resentment at the events that had happened.” But he added: “There is nothing that could have justified these offences, and they were serious. Mr Adams made persistent threats over a three-day period that he was going to kill Martin James and Nigel Farage.” Adams had been in custody for six months before today’s sentencing. As part of the community order, he will be supervised for two years. The judge told him: “This has to be an end to all of these matters. Do you understand?”. Adams replied: “Yes.” UK Independence party (Ukip) guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 10, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.