Airline passenger started fire on Monarch Airlines flight from Birmingham Airport

John Cox, aged 46, of Kidderminster, was flying to Sharm el-Sheikh with friends when he lit a fire in a waste paper bin in one of the toilets on board.

The drama took place at 36,000ft on a Monarch flight about an hour before the aircraft was due to land. Instead the pilot diverted to Luxor Airport in Egypt, where the crew and passengers were transferred to another plane.

The cost of arranging alternative transport cost the airline company an estimated £42,000. The damage to the aircraft caused by the fire is believed to have been minimal.

Cox, who is unemployed, was said to have been drinking before the flight took off and was rowdy throughout the five-and-a-half-hour journey.

The incident took place on board flight ZB472 from Birmingham on August 27, 2015. Cox, who was travelling with a family party of four, was restrained by cabin crew who dealt with the fire without making the other passengers aware of what was happening.

Cox, of Coates Road, Kidderminster, admitted arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered, when he appeared before Birmingham Crown Court.

Mr Gurdeep Garcha, defending him, told the court that he was a man of previous good character. The hearing was adjourned for psychiatric and pre-sentence reports.

Judge Mark Wall, QC, warned that only a prison sentence could follow.

He told Cox that although he had no history of offending, he would not be treated differently to any other defendant facing the same charge.

The case was adjourned until March 10 for sentence.

Cox was granted bail on condition that he has no contact with any of the other passengers who were on the flight and that he does not travel on any aircraft. He surrendered his passport to his legal team.