A woman whose “excessive” kissing and fondling with her partner on an Air New Zealand flight triggered their arrest has been jailed for two years, with the court revealing the in-flight indecency was just one part of a spiralling, meth-driven series of crimes that unfolded over the past year.
Bronte LeLievre, a 33-year-old New Zealand woman, was sentenced in the Nelson District Court on Thursday on 12 charges including performing an indecent act in a public place, dangerous meth-impaired driving, a high-value burglary and resisting police, with Judge Tony Snell emphasising that her behaviour on the Auckland–Nelson flight sat within a broader pattern of drug-fuelled offending.
The in-flight incident occurred on November 13 last year, when LeLievre and her partner, 30-year-old Reuben Finn, began what the court-read summary of facts described as “kissing each other excessively” in row 3 on a morning flight packed with 48 passengers.
According to Radio New Zealand, cabin crew asked the pair to stop after other passengers became uncomfortable, but the couple continued, with Finn reaching inside LeLievre’s bra and fondling her as the aircraft descended into Nelson.
When a second attendant approached, they pretended to be asleep, although Finn’s hand remained inside her clothing. The flight deck was alerted and police boarded the aircraft on arrival, arresting both at the gate.
Finn was sentenced separately in September to six months of community detention and a year of intensive supervision. The judge in that case described the pair’s conduct as causing “much embarrassment and discomfort” to passengers and crew.
