Remorseful Lauren finally flies back to US after air rage conviction

The niece of fashion icon Ralph Lauren last night arrived back home in the US after a three-night stay in Ireland that she will definitely want to forget.

Jenny Lauren flew out on the United Airlines UA24 flight to Newark at 9.43am from Shannon Airport yesterday after a bruising experience here.

Lauren was able to fly home after reclaiming her passport from gardaí in Shannon. She touched down yesterday afternoon local time in Newark, New Jersey, which is only a short distance from her Manhattan apartment.

The 41-year-old flew out less than 24 hours after she walked free from Ennis District Court following her conviction. She was ordered to pay €2,000 in relation to the air rage offence on board the flight from Barcelona to New York on Monday.

At Ennis District Court yesterday, Insp Tom Kennedy said Lauren called one female member of cabin crew, Jennifer Simpson “a fat, ugly, unhappy, blonde bitch” and told another female staff member, Constance Topping, that she was “a fucking ugly, blonde bitch”.

On a “cocktail” of prescribed medicine and alcohol, Lauren pushed Ms Topping hard up against the wall of the aircraft.

The incident arose over Ms Lauren having problems with her reclining seat.

The costs of the diversion to Delta Airlines totalled over $43,000 (€31,000) and Lauren may yet face civil proceedings over her causing a breach of the peace.

This was hinted at in court by her solicitor, Sharon Curley, who told the court that Lauren “does feel very responsible and very remorseful and she is aware that the element of compensation that is something she may have to face, possibly in another forum”.

Lauren arrived in Ireland on Monday off the transatlantic flight disorientated after being at the centre of the air rage incident.

She believed that she had landed in Spain, thinking she had returned to Barcelona. This lead her to ask an arresting garda: “Can you repeat that in English, please?”

Though she spent her time in Clare, home to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren, Lauren will have a skewed view of Ireland after passing her first night here in the cells at Shannon Garda Station.

The Irish pub is marketed worldwide by our tourism agencies, but the first Irish pub she stepped into was the Brian Boru pub in Ballina, Co Tipperary, which turned out to be the makeshift sitting for Killaloe District Court for her first court appearance.

The jewellery designer has spoken in the past of the name Lauren being like an albatross hanging around her neck — and it will have felt particularly heavy this week when her arrest and court appearance made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic.