A 41-year old niece of fashion icon, Ralph Lauren is to be sentenced tomorrow in relation to an air rage incident that occurred on Monday.
Jenny Lauren appeared at a district court sitting held in a licensed premises today for her case after spending a night in the cells at Shannon Garda Station.
Solicitor for Ms Lauren, Sharon Curley confirmed to Killaloe District Court that Ms Lauren would be pleading guilty to the three charges brought against her in relation to the incident on board the Barcelona-JFK flight.
At Killaloe District Court – held today (tues) in Brian Boru pub in the adjoining Lough Derg town of Ballina – Judge Patrick Durcan said that it would not be appropriate for the case to be dealt with at Killaloe and said that the case should be heard in Ennis on Wednesday.
Judge Durcan told Ms Curley that before he would impose sentence in Ennis, the nature and extent of how people were discommoded, the cost to the airline and the cost to Shannon airport arising from the incident would have to be addressed.
Judge Durcan said: “I am talking about the totality of the costs involved. These are the issues that must be addressed before the matter is finalised.”
Ms Curley said that there would be an application for bail and Judge Durcan asked that Ms Lauren confirm that her nationality and that she does not hold dual citizenship.
Dressed all in black wearing a black long sleeved dress, black tights and black flat knee high boots, Ms Lauren gave brief sworn evidence to confirm that she was American and didn’t hold any other passport.
Ms Curley proposed that an €800 cash lodgement as part of bail conditions and Judge Durcan rejected that amount and said that €2,500 would be the appropriate amount.
Insp Tom Kennedy said that Gardai have Ms Lauren’s passport and said that Gardai would be insisting on signing on conditions and for a specified address for Ms Lauren before Wednesday’s court appearance.
Judge Durcan has adjourned the case to allow Ms Lauren meets the terms of her bail to later today.
In the case, Ms Lauren is charged with engaging in behaviour of a threatening, abusive or insulting nature whether by word or gesture with intent to cause a breach of the peace or being reckless as to whether a breach of the peace might have been occasioned on January 6th on board the Delta Air Lines flight.
Ms Lauren is also charged with being intoxicated to such an extent as would give rise to a reasonable apprehension that you might endanger yourself or other persons on board on the same date on the same flight.
Ms Lauren is also charged with without justification engaging in behaviour likely to cause serious offence or annoyance to any person on board the aircraft having been requested by a member of the aircraft to cease such behaviour on January 6th.
Garda Evette Walsh said that Ms Lauren made no reply when charged and cautioned.
In the incident, the captain of the Delta Air Lines flight, with 209 passengers and crew on board, diverted to Shannon airport at 13.05 on Monday as a result of the alleged incident and Ms Lauren was arrested by Shannon Gardai after touching down at the airport at 13.47.
The New Yorker was then brought by Gardai for questioning to Shannon Garda Station where she also met with a representative of the US embassy here in Ireland.
Garda also took six witness statements from the captain of the flight and five other Delta flight crew as part of the investigation into the incident.
The Delta Airlines flight remained on the tarmac for over two hours on Monday at Shannon and continued its journey to JFK in New York at 16.15.
Ms Lauren operates a high end jewellery business, ‘Jenny Lauren Jewellery’ in the US, while Ms Lauren’s 2004 memoir ‘Homesick: A Memoir of Family, Food and Finding Hope’ recounted her battle with an eating disorder in her teens and 20s.
Last year, Forbes magazine gave Ms Lauren's famous uncle, 74- year-old Ralph Lauren a net worth of $7.7bn as a result of his worldwide clothing empire. The Bronx native started off his business in the 1960s selling neckties in Manhattan.
In fiscal 2013, the Ralph Lauren corporation reported revenues of $6.9bn in what Mr Ralph Lauren described as “record sales and profit levels”.
