A TCU student whose drunken misbehavior caused a trans-Atlantic flight to Dallas to return to London was sentenced this week to six months behind bars.

Jeffrey Tanner Libby (Metropolitan Police)

Jeffrey Tanner Libby, 21, of Fort Worth pleaded guilty last month to multiple charges after the Dec. 17 flight: three counts of common assault, one count of being drunk aboard an aircraft and one count of using threatening, abusive or insulting words toward the cabin crew, the Metropolitan Police said Saturday.

Libby was sentenced Wednesday at Isleworth Crown Court in London, police said.

The Dec. 17 incident began when Libby boarded a British Airways Boeing 777 at Heathrow Airport, bound for Dallas, with a liter of Bacardi rum in his possession.

When the flight hit turbulence, prosecutors say, Libby got increasingly drunk and belligerent, witnesses said. He squeezed the arms of a female passenger and a crew member, punched and kicked the seat in front of him and even bit the finger of another passenger who tried to restrain him.

Part of the fracas was captured on cellphone video. The pilot ultimately had to turn around and head back to London, dumping 20 tons of fuel into the Atlantic so the plane could land safely.

A defense attorney said Libby was upset because he'd recently been dumped by his girlfriend via text message, the Daily Mirror reported.

His parents sat sobbing in the gallery during court proceedings, while Libby appeared in court via video link from Wormwood Scrubs prison, the tabloid newspaper said.

"Libby's behaviour was extremely reckless, and he put the safety of the passengers and crew on board at risk," police Detective Inspector Matt East said in a written statement. "Not only that, but his actions caused considerable disruption and inconvenience for all those on board, and the airline had to rearrange flights for the 191 other passengers."

The judge in the case rejected the defense suggestion that Libby get a suspended sentence.

"Whether you were drunk when you boarded the plane or you became drunk doesn't matter," Judge Robin Johnson said, according to the Mirror. "You assaulted a woman for no reason at all."