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The young man who boarded an outer-Melbourne JetStar flight with a shotgun has reportedly refused to pay the airline’s ‘extortionate’ extra fees for oversized carry-on baggage.
While the Northern end of Australia was bracing for the impact of a Tropical Cyclone on the densely population megatropolis between the Gold Coast and Brisbane, it seems there has been a fair bit of drama elsewhere in Australia.
Once again, the people of Victoria are dealing with with yet another disaffected young man who has found it much easier to get a gun than a girl.
On Thursday, a 17-year-old Ballarat man reportedly climbed through a hole in the airport’s security fence before making his way onto a boarding JetStar flight on the tarmac of Victoria’s Avalon airport with a large firearm.
The teenager is believed to have told passengers and crew that he had a bomb on his person, before his bluff was called by a vigilante shearer from Echuca who did not hesitate in manhandling the gunman and leaving him unconscious.
It is believed he was taken from the scene in an ambulance, after having ‘the shit kicked out of him’ by the agricultural worker.
It is not known whether the gunman was one of those Neo-Nazis, or some other brand of radicalised rural Victorian, but what is certain is that he is now in a lot of pain and a lot of trouble with the law.
Police have charged the 17-year-old with unlawfully taking control of an aircraft, orchestrating a bomb hoax and possessing a firearm. Pending on his motivations, he could also be charged with terrorism offences.
But on top of this life-changing criminal strife, he will also be charged $39 dollars for bringing oversized baggage onto the flight.
It’s believed that the shotgun was neither weighed nor tagged by JetStar crew before it was taken onboard, and the gunman must pay a retrospective fee for such a brazen violation of the airline’s strict policy.
It is being reported that the gunman is refusing to pay this ‘ridiculous’ fee, and has vowed to take his business to Virgin next time instead.
