In what was described as "the worst ever case of air rage", Ian Bottomley, 36, a South African-born plumber injured three stewards and caused £30,000 of damage over a period of 12 hours.

Jon Kay reports: "He tried to convince the jury he'd been more of a victim than a villain"

Passing sentence at Isleworth Crown Court, west London, Judge Andrew McDowall told the father-of-one from Witham, Essex, that he had "behaved in a manner that was both appalling and terrifying for other passengers" on the British Airways flight.

'Step outside'

At one point Bottomley even asked an ex-soldier trying to restrain him to "step outside" - seven miles above the African jungle.

One horrified passenger told the captain: "Get this bloody plane on the ground and get this bloody lunatic out before he kills us."

He was eventually overpowered, handcuffed, gagged, strapped down and sedated. But even that was not enough to control his anger.

A doctor on board had told the court that Bottomley seemed to resist strong sedatives. The seats in front of him had to be wrenched away from their fittings to stop him trying to head-butt them.

No emotion

The divorced plumber showed no reaction as the jury trying him found him guilty of one count of affray on BA flight 056 from Johannesburg to Heathrow last January.

They then convicted him of assaulting cabin crew chief Michael Stevenson, being drunk aboard the aircraft, and endangering the plane and its passengers.

Bottomley, who was described by the prosecution as behaving like "a caged wild animal", had denied being drunk and said he had simply been acting in "self defence".

"I thought they were going to kill me ... I resisted - it was a survival instinct," he told the court.

On Friday, the judge told him: "Your violence was not merely directed towards those trying to restrain you, but also to people trying to give you help and attention and ease the pain you were suffering."