Fake airline captain from Shropshire gave Jabba the Hutt as reference to land job
A former Oswestry man who lied on a job application for the role of an airline pilot by using the name of Star Wars character Jabba the Hutt as a reference, has been spared jail.
Nigel Francis-McGann, formerly of West Felton, Oswestry, began working for West Atlantic UK in March 2017 when he lived Shropshire
Shrewsbury Crown Court was told on Friday that the 54-year-old had applied for a position as a 737 captain at the cargo airline, which flew out of Birmingham Airport, and he was hired for that role and given additional training.
Mr Philip Beardwell prosecuting said Francis-McGann, now of Buckeridge Rd, Salisbury, had previously worked for Fly Dubai flying 737 planes as a first officer, telling the judge: “The best way to describe it is that a captain has four stripes and can be in charge. Three stripes is a junior role.
“Francis-McGann was a three stripes pilot."
He said bosses at the airline became suspicious that Francis-McGann was not fully qualified and after digging deeper, spotted a reference supplied from Fly Dubai under the name of “Desilijic Tiur” that claimed Francis-McGann had been a captain there.
But when the reference was checked, Mr Beardwell said Fly Dubai had never heard of anyone called Desilijic Tiur.
“This was unsurprising, as Desilijic Tiur is the real name of the character Jabba The Hutt from Star Wars,” said Mr Beardwell.
