British man, 25, gets drunk, causes ruckus at Changi Airport, prompts security to press anti-hijack button, gets jail & fine

A 25-year-old British national, Arudchelvan Karnan, was sentenced to jail on Sep. 2 after he caused a ruckus while drunk at Changi Airport Terminal 1.

Shouting loudly at boarding gate

Karnan was previously arrested on Jul. 20, 2026, after shouting loudly and causing a nuisance to other passengers while at a boarding gate for a Scoot flight bound for Kuala Lumpur.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, he became intoxicated after drinking an entire 700ml bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey earlier in the morning.

Scoot staff at the boarding gate were approached multiple times by separate individuals informing them of Karnan's behaviour.

When two staff approached him one after the other, Karnan hurled vulgarities at them.

He was subsequently barred from boarding the flight.

Escalation

Despite this, Karnan did not stop his behaviour and attempted to enter the aerobridge.

After all the passengers had passed the boarding counter, one staff member placed a connecting strip across two bollards at the counter and stood behind them to block his path.

However, Karnan ducked under the strip and pushed the staff away, causing her to fall.

As Karnan headed to the aerobridge, the staff member shouted at the nearby security guard for help, who pressed the anti-hijack button.

This caused the gate's anti-hijack door to close, preventing Karnan from boarding the plane.

The police arrived soon after. While being escorted away, Karnan launched an expletive-filled rant towards an officer:

"...Take me to England right now. I want England. Take me to England. F*ck Malaysia brother, f*ck Singapore brother. Take me to England right now. I want England. Give me England. Take me to England right now..."

One other passenger was trapped in the aerobridge after the anti-hijack door was closed, and in total, the flight was delayed by 53 minutes due to Karnan's actions.

A blood test revealed that Karnan had 62mg/100ml of ethanol in his body at the time.

The legal drink-driving limit in Singapore is 30mg/100ml.

Punishment

Karnan was subsequently brought to court on Aug. 12.

The deputy public prosecutor proposed a jail term of 10 to 12 weeks, raising that Karnan was voluntarily intoxicated and his actions presented a security risk, reported  The Straits Times.

Karnan was charged with one count each of harassment, public drunkenness and unlawfully entering a protected place.

He pleaded guilty to all charges.

He was sentenced to eight weeks’ jail and a fine of S$2,800.