Simone Burns: Lawyer jailed for drunken, racist rant on plane found dead days after prison release

Police say they are not treating death as suspicious

A human rights lawyer jailed over a drunken, racist rant on a passenger plane has been found dead in East Sussex.

In April, Simone Burns was sentenced to six months in prison for being drunk on an aircraft and assaulting a member of cabin crew, and was told by a judge she had been “obnoxious” as well as “abusive, contemptuous and confrontational”.

She began the tirade when she was denied a fourth 250ml bottle of wine on a flight from Mumbai to London last November. She shouted, “I’m a f*****g international lawyer”, and also called the crew “Indian money-grabbing c***s”.

One staff member described the outburst as unlike anything he had seen in 34 years on the job.

Burns, also known as Simone O’Broin, pleaded guilty.

She was “totally ashamed of her actions” which included spitting at an Air India worker, said her lawyer, who suggested her behaviour was due to a “mixture of altitude, the consumption of drink and anxiety” at the fact that she was likely to miss an uncle’s funeral.

Burns was reportedly free on licence at the time of her death.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: ”The body of a woman found at Beachy Head on 1 June has been identified as 50-year-old Simone Burns from Hove.

“The death is not being treated as suspicious and the next of kin have been informed.

“The matter has been passed to the coroner’s officer.”

Simone Burns pictured during her rant (@shukla_tarun)

Burns worked with refugees around the world during her legal career. She was diagnosed with facial skin cancer in 2000 and had had multiple biopsies and surgeries; at the time of her sentencing she was waiting to receive a prosthetic nose.

She had received death threats after a video of her outburst was shared widely online, her lawyer Mark Kimsey said earlier this year.

For confidential support call Samaritans on 116 123.

If you have been affected by this story, you can contact the following organisations for support:

https://www.mind.org.uk/

https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/

http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/mentalhealth

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/

If you have been affected by sexual violence, you can find help via the NHS. Rape Crisis offers specialist support for women and girls; and the The Survivors’ Trust supports people of any gender.