Four men jailed after tear gas sprayed into an airport lift - causing some to vomit blood

Four men have been jailed after tear gas was sprayed at a Heathrow Airport car park, causing some people to vomit blood.

Tyrone Richards, 31, Anton Clarke-Butcher, 25, Omoneke Whyte, 31, and Denzel Eduardo, 29, previously pleaded guilty to affray at Isleworth Crown Court.

The airport's Terminal 3 was closed for several hours at around 8am on 7 December, when three of the defendants - wearing face coverings and dark clothing - sprayed what is "believed to be CS spray" into a lift.

The gas was sprayed in the face of one woman at close range, "causing her to start coughing and choking", the court heard.

There were two women in the lift, who had arrived on a British Airways flight from Johannesburg in South Africa that morning, and two men who had met the women at the airport.

When the lift arrived on the ground floor, gas was emitted, causing "difficulties for people, particularly at a Cafè Nero nearby".

A barista at Caffè Nero told the court she started to cough and vomit blood.

The women in the lift went to the airport taxi forecourt, where the defendants followed them and stole their suitcases.

The judge said it became apparent that the group of men "had a particular and determined interest" in the women's suitcases.

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A customer service agent at Terminal 3 described the incident as "terrifying", adding she "felt dizzy and like I was going to pass out".

Sentencing the four on Wednesday, Judge Kwame Inyundo said: "Individuals were targeted by you as a group and the violence used in the incident was serious and sustained."

Whyte and Eduardo, who appeared from HMP Wormwood Scrubs via video link, were each jailed for 23 months. Clarke-Butcher, who was at the same prison, was sentenced to 21 months' imprisonment.

Richards, who appeared by video link from HMP Wayland in Norfolk, was jailed for 27 months.

CS gas is used by police forces worldwide as tear gas to temporarily incapacitate people.

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