Major Gatwick Airport security breach as man wrestled sneaking onto TUI plane

A man snuck through security at Airport and tried to get on a . He was then wrestled to the floor by passengers before being arrested last Wednesday morning.

William Jonzi, 24, snuck behind a to get through the e-gates before attempting to board a to Palma de Mallorca. He then "went beserk" after being tackled to the ground. Jonzi, of Croydon, South , appeared at Crawley Magistrates' last Thursday and pleaded guilty to entering the protected security area of an airport without permission. He was fined £120 and ordered to pay £89 in costs.

As reported by , the 24-year-old managed to bypass police and security to get through the terminal's automatic security gates with another passenger. He then made his way to Gate 23 where the plane, operated by Ascend Airways on TUI's behalf, was about to depart.

A passenger on the plane, Jimmy McBride, grabbed Jonzi and forced him to the ground. The offender then began screaming and shouting in front of terrified children and families.

Mr McBride, from Sussex, said: "I grabbed him as he got two feet on the plane. He was trying to get on and get towards the passengers. He tried to come on with another woman and pretended her pram was his.

"The cabin crew had told him he wasn't coming on the flight. When he tried to get on, they told him, 'Sir, we've told you, you can't come on'.

"I caught him and got him to the ground, but the crew thought it was a fight and told me to get off him, as if I was beating him up for no reason."

The crew then held Jonzi before police arrived. The plane, which was set to take off at 6am, eventually left Gatwick at around 8.20am.

Dayna White, who was also a passenger on the flight, said Jonzi trued to board alongside her mother Andrea. The 29-year-old said: "It was a bit concerning. It's my first holiday with my child, so it wasn't a good experience.

"We're going to put a complaint in. He had been loitering around, so it's hardly as if it was a shock that he'd try to get on that plane."

Tui sources said the plane was operated by another carrier, which was working with the police. Gatwick Airport declined to comment.