A 52-YEAR-old man awaiting sentence for an "air rage" melee could be arrested after Burnley magistrates issued a warrant.

It is the second time John Michael Handley, has failed to appear before the court in recent weeks.

Last time, the bench issued a warrant not backed for bail and he turned up the day after.

Handley, of Gisburn Road, Barrowford, has admitted smoking in a compartment of a UK registered aircraft and using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour.

The court had previously been told how the defendant threatened he may "smack" a steward on the crowded airbus, after he had been caught lighting up in the toilet. Jobless Handley, a passenger on the flight from India to Gatwick, was later arrested, but thought he would hear nothing more of it.