R.E.M. star 'ransacked' cabin

Buck had been drinking for most of the flight, the court was told

LONDON, England -- R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck ransacked the first class cabin of a transatlantic flight while allegedly drunk, a court has been told during his continuing trial.

Buck denies one charge of being drunk on an aircraft and one charge of damaging British Airways crockery.

He also denies two counts of common assault against cabin services director Mario Agius and stewardess Holly Ward, during which they were splattered with yoghurt.

Buck tried to hide a knife up his sleeve after overturning a trolley in first class, causing stewardess Nara Incecchi to fear that he would try to stab someone, the court heard.

Incecchi told the jury on Tuesday at Isleworth Crown Court, west London during the second day of the trial: "I was scared to death."

The first class cabin looked as if it had been "ransacked," with food and broken plates littering the floor, she said.

The 45-year-old guitarist had gone into the galley, followed by another member of the cabin crew, during the flight from Seattle to London on April 20 for the Nelson Mandela Freedom Day concert.

After tipping up the trolley, scattering cutlery, breakfast trays and food over the floor, Buck allegedly tried to hide a knife up his sleeve, but Ward grabbed it from him, the jury was told.

Incecchi said she thought, as she began gathering the cutlery up, "There are knives on the floor, he's drunk, he's going to grab a knife and someone is going to be injured."

She said she had grappled with Buck near the exit door after he announced he was "going home."

She said she managed to grab hold of his hand and pull it away from a control panel.

"His speech was slurred and he said he was going to go home," Incecchi told the court.

Purser Janis Hawkins told the jury that Buck and his tour manager, Robert Whittaker, had been drinking continuously since before take-off.

Whittaker smeared his face in melted ice-cream and laughed, she went on. During the flight she investigated a complaint about the condition of the toilet.

"The floor was pretty wet. I thought there was a possibility that he had missed the pan and thought that maybe I shouldn't be serving him more wine," she said.

American passenger Linda Christiansen said Buck claimed she was his wife, and tried to sit next to her in business class although three flight attendants intervened to stop him.

"While he was struggling with the flight attendants he squeezed a pot of yoghurt and it burst and went all over them and the seat," she said.