Watford man fined after drone disrupted Guernsey Air Display

Iurie Vahniuc, of Eastbury Road, was ordered to pay a £4,500 fine yesterday morning (May 13) at the Guernsey Magistrate’s Court and forced to forfeit his drone.

The 42-year-old pleaded guilty to “recklessly or negligently” acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft “or any person therein”, by flying a small, unmanned aircraft in the vicinity of North Beach car park and St Peter Harbour on the island on September 14, 2023.

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The Guernsey Battle of Britain Air Display, featuring a Spitfire, a Hurricane, and the Red Arrows had taken place that day, but at around noon the organisers apologised for having to take a short break in the middle of the display “due to drone activity”.

At the time, former RAF pilot Syd Bowsher told the BBC that if the drone had hit an aircraft "you're going to kill the pilot".

"The problem is we don't have control of that drone we don't know where it is going to go," he added.

Guernsey Air Display had issued a warning asking the public to refrain from flying drones during the event, adding that it would have to immediately suspend the display and refer the matter to police if there was any drone activity.