Anybody who’s ever booked a ticket to board an aircraft will be aware of the concept of the excess baggage charge. What one passenger on a flight bound for Belfast from London Gatwick didn’t realize is that – unlike other airlines who demand an extra 30 pounds per kilo or other ridiculous amount – Easyjet’s excess baggage charge is 50,000 Volts.

The unnamed man had violated Easyjet’s cabin baggage policy by attempting to commit the dastardly crime of carrying on board a “manbag”, the masculine equivalent of a handbag, or purse. When he refused to do so, Easyjet staff became a bit more stern about the whole thing, and eventually had to call the police as the passenger became “increasingly abusive”. Not violent – abusive.

Details remain unclear, but what is certain is that the police looked disfavourably on his insistence on carrying a man purse – and his abuse, most likely – and filled the man with 50,000 volts of electricity from their trusty taser. He was subsequently led off the aircraft and charged (haha) with a “breach of the peace”.

One has to wonder if charging an excess baggage fee of 50,000 volts and a public order offence is warranted, especially in the light of the dwarf who was bravely tasered by police not once, but twice, after sticking a sucker dart on his forehead and pretending to be a dalek.

Although the passenger was clearly behaving like a dick of epic proportions, one cannot help feel a little sympathetic, especially after the way the public are routinely humiliated by airport staff from the moment they pass through the shoes-off, pants-down security screening and on towards the duty fraud section.

One also has to wonder if firing a taser inside an aircraft, even if it was stationary, might not in some way cause it to topple out of the sky a bit later, as the rest of us are constantly being reminded, at length, to shut off our incredibly low powered smartphones and tablets in case they cause the plane to implode during take-off and landing.

The whole situation is ridiculous. All the stupid fellow had to do was put his small bag inside his big bag, like the nice lady asked him to. Of course, if you pay more money to Easyjet, you can indeed bring along a second bag. It’s perfectly fine. It’s perfectly fine on a bunch of other airlines, without any extra charge, financial or electrical.

All’s well that ends well, however, as the unruly passenger has been duly sectioned under the mental health act “for his own protection” and Easyjet stumped up the price of a free can of pop for every passenger on board. Woo. Big spender.