Porn fire passenger spared jail

David Mason asked a stewardess to burn the magazine for him

A passenger who admitted endangering the safety of an aircraft after he set fire to a pornographic magazine has walked free from Hove Crown Court.

David Mason, 45, started the fire on a flight from Norway to Gatwick because he found a picture offensive.

Mason, of Surbiton, Surrey, was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £263 in costs.

The court heard he had changed medicine for a mental condition which had led to his behaviour on the February flight.

Incineration request

At a hearing last month, Lewes Crown Court heard Mason objected to a photo of a black man with a white woman.

He used a lighter to set fire to the torn pages on the Braathens Airline Boeing 737.

Mason, of Langley Avenue, claimed he became offended by the images and felt compelled to burn them.

Stewardesses on flight BU595 from Bergen had refused his request to incinerate paper in the plane's galley oven.

They sent him back to his seat, but passengers reported a burning smell, moments later.

Cabin crew members extinguished the fire with water.

The court also heard he had tried to burn the magazine in a toilet but the cubicle was occupied.