A former refugee who claimed a Jetstar crew bullied him before police Tasered and manhandled him on a plane has been fined $1500 by a Perth court.

July 20, 2023

A man who claimed he was treated like an animal on a Jetstar flight when he was Tasered and manhandled off a plane has admitted behaving offensively and obstructing police.

Bolic Bet Malou was removed from a Perth to Melbourne flight on March 18 before it took off amid an alcohol-fuelled argument with his partner during which they changed seats several times.

The 30-year-old was accused of ignoring the cabin crew’s instructions before the captain called Australian Federal Police, who wrestled with the Sudanese refugee turned-music producer before he was Tasered three times.

He was initially charged with four offences, including failure to comply with a safety instruction and causing harm to a commonwealth official, and spent two days behind bars.

But on Thursday they were negotiated down to two and Malou pleaded guilty in Perth Magistrates Court to obstructing an official and behaving in an offensive or disorderly manner on an aircraft causing endangerment.

Commonwealth prosecutor Rhys Mola said it was one the most serious incidents to occur on an aircraft in WA for sometime and Malou had placed one of the officers in a headlock and injured others.

“The incident was confronting for others and caused distress for those on board. The accused’s conduct certainly compromised the safety of other passengers,” he said.

“(And) made it substantially more difficult for the police to perform their duties.The defiance and aggression significantly frustrated the ability of officers to remove him from the aircraft.”

Malou’s lawyer, Nick Terry, said his client had initially complied with the cabin crew’s orders but soon felt he was being bullied and discriminated against.

He was also defending his family, who were allegedly pushed by police, after he refused to remove his seatbelt and disembark in an orderly fashion.

“When Mr Malou sees his partner and son get pushed he gets out of his seat in anger … There is a struggle … It’s all happening with three officers around him,” he said.

“At no point during that whole incident and it wasn’t until taken off the plane and into the aerobridge was he told he was under arrest.”

After he was released by police, Malou told Nine News the incident had left him feeling humiliated and “like an animal”.

A video of the arrest showed Malou appearing to calmly talk to Jetstar staff before police arrived and pulled him from his seat.

Outside court Malou said although he admitted the charges he did not think he was guilty and he followed the cabin crew’s orders.

“I’d rather be with my family than fight a meaningless war,” he said in reference to contesting the charges.

“I didn’t resist arrest but by law when the police come and do that obviously it’s obstruction … You can’t fight the law.”

He was fined $1500, ordered to pay court costs and placed on a conditional release order for one year with $2000 bond.