A MAN arrested after a mid-air brawl on an airliner has vowed to control his behaviour by embarking on an anger management course.

Stephen Hyatt, 46, of Chapelhouse Road, Nelson, decided to take action after an incident on board a Britannia aircraft last year.

He appeared before Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, on Friday after being arrested when he flew back from a dream holiday in the Dominican Republic.

He was one of two men charged with affray following the air incident on March 28 last year.

Hyatt, who is married to Carolyn, 40 and has a 24-year-old daughter Zoe, said his wife had paid for the holiday with her redundancy money after losing her job at Burnley catering firm Brakes Brothers.

Hyatt, an engineer at Weston's, Foulridge, was travelling on a flight bound for Gatwick Airport when a fracas broke out with Robert Steven Orphanides, 38, of Plaistow, London.

The pair had to be restrained by crew members and other passengers and the captain decided to divert to Manchester and make an emergency landing. Orphanides was sentenced to nine months imprisonment and Hyatt received a £250 fine after pleading guilty.

Hyatt is now looking to embark on an anger management course to help control his temper.

He added: "My defence mechanism of confronting aggression is a serious flaw in my character. I need to learn the social skills needed to disarm myself to help deflect this behaviour. Confrontation only harms myself and other people and I know this only to well after what happened.

"I have made a promise to myself that I am going to get help through anger management and social skills therapy, that will hopefully teach me the skills I need under stress.

"Those that know me will recognise that this is not an idle statement -- I truly mean it. I know I am not too old to learn. I don't like confrontations and am very sorry for any upset that may have been caused on that flight.

"My employers, friends and family have been very supportive throughout this time and I would like to thank them for that."