R.E.M. star denies inventing tale

Buck mistook waking in his prison cell for a "weird Disneyland hotel"

LONDON, England -- Rock star Peter Buck denied inventing a tale about taking a sleeping pill to avoid accusations of drunkenness after an alleged rampage aboard a plane.

The 45-year-old R.E.M. guitarist is said to have assaulted two British Airways cabin crew during a prolonged bout of "loutish behaviour" 35,000 feet above the Atlantic.

He insisted during Thursday's hearing at west London's Isleworth Crown Court that his account of downing the tablet with a glass of wine at the start of the flight was true.

During questioning by prosecution barrister David Bate QC, Buck denied making up the tablet story to cover his drunken behaviour on the 10-hour Seattle-to-London flight.

Buck was arrested when the plane landed at Heathrow and he told the court that "it didn't really occur to me" to tell the police about the pill.

He told the jury how he had awoken in a police cell mistaking it for a "weird Disneyland hotel."

"I felt scared, kind of terrified, kind of foggy."

Bate asked: "Were you too frightened to tell the truth?"

"I was not lying. I was just trying to deal with a very difficult situation," Buck replied.

"I didn't know exactly what was going through my mind at the time. I don't think I was too frightened to tell the truth."

Bate pressed: "I am sorry to have to suggest this to you, but the reason why you gave that answer about not having had any medication was because that was true.

"You didn't take any medication. You have invented this in order to explain what would otherwise be attributable to drunkenness."

"That is not so, sir," the guitarist maintained.

Buck, who was spending his second day in the witness box, denies one charge of being drunk on the aircraft in April last year, two counts of common assault involving cabin services director Mario Agius and stewardess Holly Ward, and one charge of damaging British Airways crockery.

The final witness of the day was Professor Ian Hindmarch, an expert from the University of Surrey, on the effects of drugs on human behaviour.

He told the court that Ambien, a medication Buck say they took on the plane, was a "very powerful sleep inducer."

People who took it would normally find themselves dozing off within 30 minutes, but should the sleep pattern be interrupted for some reason, a single 10 mg tablet could become "a bit of a monster."

Clinical trials under such circumstances had revealed side effects including confusion, forgetfulness, loss of balance and "bizarre behaviour."

Personality changes had been recorded, with feelings of "euphoria" also reported. In addition, it could bring "underlying aggression" to the surface.

Asked what effect alcohol would have on someone who had taken such a sleeping pill, Professor Hindmarch replied it would simply "enhance and magnify" such symptoms.

The trial continues on Friday.