An airline passenger whose abusive behaviour forced the captain to make an emergency landing in Bermuda has been jailed.

Grant Smith, 36, of Burnley, in Lancashire, north west England, was among several passengers who caused trouble on the way to the Dominican Republic. He admitted drunkenness on an aircraft and was jailed for 42 weeks by a judge at Manchester Crown Court.

The court heard that Mr Smith, who was accompanied by his girlfriend and another couple, consumed alcohol he carried onto the Thomson Airways flight on December 31 last year, which took off after a three-hour delay.

Prosecutor Adam Lodge said that problems began an hour into the flight when air steward Tim Burrows’ wallet was taken by some of the passengers and thrown around the cabin of the Boeing 767.

Mr. Smith retrieved the wallet and handed it back to Mr Burrows, but became abusive and demanded food, the court heard. He also called Mr. Burrows a ‘poof’.

He was issued with two formal warning letters by the captain, which he ripped up.

Mr. Lodge said: “He was also found by a door, saying, ‘I’m not sure what I’ll do, I’ll kill somebody’, or words to that effect.”

Mr Smith and six other passengers, who were not charged, were removed from the aircraft when it landed in Bermuda. Mr Lodge said the incident cost the airline around £50,000.

Jon Oultram, defending, said his client admitted calling Mr Burrows a poof but denied it was expressed as a homophobic comment.

The court heard the single father, whose teenage daughter is expecting a child, had gone on holiday to "get away from everything at home" following the death of a close friend.

Judge Elgan Edwards told him: "Passengers and crew travelling on aircraft are entitled to do so without being confronted by drunken behaviour carried out by people like yourself."

He said his homophobic comments were "not acceptable" and said he hoped to see him banned from flying with the airline.