LONDON, UK (BBC) - REM guitarist
Peter Buck has been described as a "paralytic Mr Hyde" during a trial investigating an alleged "air rage" incident.
Isleworth Crown Court in west London heard that the 44-year-old musician assaulted British Airways cabin staff after drinking 15 glasses of wine on a transatlantic flight.
Mr Buck, who was on his way to London on 21 April for a concert, was accused of "appalling" behaviour by Edward Lewis for the prosecution. "He became the transmogrification of Dr Jekyll into Mr Hyde," said the barrister of Buck's behaviour on board the aircraft.
Judge John Crocker had adjourned the hearing when the news of a passenger jet crashing near John F Kennedy airport outside New York reached the court.
Reeled
US members of the court were allowed to make enquiries about friends and relatives before the trial resumed. When the case resumed, it was claimed that an inebriated Buck had to be pulled free after getting stuck between the seats on the flight and that he reeled along the aisles repeatedly.
At one stage it was alleged that he managed to cover himself and the cabin services manager with a tub of yoghurt.
Then Mr Lewis said that he "furiously" overturned a hostess trolley, sending a pile of crockery, honey, cereals and milk flying across the floor.
Buck was allegedly spotted trying to slip a knife up his sleeve as he attempted to tidy up and when this was snatched from him he allegedly said: "I am REM and I can make up a story that I was assaulted." When the captain finally presented him with a written warning that the flight could be diverted, he promptly tore it up.
Finally, said Mr Lewis, Buck calmed down and "to everyone's relief he fell asleep".
'Sleeping tablets'
Buck denies being drunk on an aircraft last April.
He also denies two counts of common assault involving cabin services manager Mario Agius and stewardess Holly Ward, and one charge of damaging British Airways crockery.
Buck said he had taken sleeping tablets and had not known the effect that the alcohol would have on him.
REM are widely regarded as one of the most influential groups of the past two decades and have been an inspiration for a generation of alternative rock bands.
Adjourned
The group formed in 1980 with a line-up of Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry.
Yet, REM did not hit mainstream chart success until the release of their Green album in 1988.
Their albums have also included Murmur, Reckoning, Document, Out of Time and Automatic for the People.
The case has been adjourned until Tuesday.
