A drunken stag party from Oldham who subjected holidaymakers to 'eight hours of hell' have been jailed.

Stag Michael Ward, 33, was travelling to Las Vegas from Manchester with his friends Scott Capper, 32, Craig Hopwood, 35, and Daniel Howarth, 35, on a Thomas Cook flight with more than 300 other passengers.

They were all drunk when they boarded, and drank their own duty free alcohol including vodka and rum on the plane despite being told not to, Manchester Crown Court heard.

One man even claimed to have a bomb in their bag.

Cabin crew refused to serve them but they continued to drink from duty free, with five litres of alcohol being confiscated.

Their 'dangerous, persistent drunken misbehaviour' got so bad that the plane had to be diverted to Winnipeg, landing eight hours after leaving Manchester.

The otherwise 'hard working family men', who were warned even before the plane took off, were arrested by Canadian police and then sent back to the UK the following day.

Jailing Ward, Capper and Hopwood for two years and Howarth for 19 months, Judge Hilary Manley said the men showed 'total contempt' towards cabin crew and other passengers.

A sentencing hearing heard holidaymakers were subjected to 'appalling' language as the men screamed and shouted, threw water over each other and fought one another on the flight, which left Manchester at 8am on March 24 last year.

Ward pulled down Hopwood's shorts, and Howarth started doing press ups in the aisle.

One man touched a female flight attendant's bottom, and Ward and Hopwood tried to lift up a flight attendant's skirt.

After Ward was warned that if the bad behaviour continued the plane would be diverted to Canada and they'd would be arrested, he said 'that's okay, I don't mind going to prison'.

Ward, who claimed his behaviour with the others was 'banter', also said: "I f****** love Canada, bring it on."

Ward told cabin crew 'don't tell me what to do' and bragged about being a '40k builder'. He claimed the staff member was 'lower down the food chain' than him.

One passenger described the ordeal as 'eight hours of hell'. She said one man called a flight attendant a 'Scouse b****' after being refused a drink.

Another watched on as the men slapped each other across the head, and as Hopwood, who one passenger said was the 'worst behaved' smoked an e-cigarette.

When one man fell asleep, one of the others would punch him and they would start fighting, prosecutor David Lees said.

As a female member of cabin crew went to sit down for a break, Hopwood stared at her and said 'I'm going to ruin your time like you've ruined ours'.

Hopwood and Howarth swigged from a bottle of rum while the cabin manager tried to perform the safety demonstrations.

Ward later told her: "No one would marry you with a f****** face like that." Capper also told her she had a 'fat a***'.

Passengers and cabin crew told of the misery they faced during the flight in victim impact statements read to the court.

"What should have been a wonderful holiday was ruined," said one passenger.

Another said: "One of the worst bits was when the police came on. They had big guns."

"These men didn't give a damn how their behaviour affected me or anyone else," said another passenger.

The flight attendant whose bottom was touched said: "I couldn't quite believe what had happened. Nobody has the right to touch me when I am at work. It made me feel degraded."

Another member of the cabin crew said the men were 'beyond reason' and 'beyond drunk'.

A cabin manager said it was the worst behaviour displayed by passengers in her 22 year career.

The diversion cost Thomas Cook about £35,000, as well as having to pay for new flights for inconvenienced passengers and for the return flights to the UK of the four defendants.

The plane had to dump 10,000kg of fuel to make the unscheduled stop, and the total delay to passengers was two hours and 37 minutes.

In interview with the police back in Manchester, Hopwood claimed that a stewardess was abusive to Ward and had said 'who would marry you', and Capper claimed that the crew had 'antagonised' the group by being 'rude' to Ward.

Later the four defendants, who all had previous convictions, pleaded guilty to offences.

Ward, of Incline Road, Oldham, Capper, of Hopkin Road, Oldham and Hopwood, of Oak Road, Oldham, all admitted counts of affray and being drunk on an aircraft.

Howarth, of Inglewood Close, Oldham, pleaded guilty to a section 4 public order offence and being drunk on an aircraft.

Defending, Keith Harrison said father-of-two Ward, who went on to marry his partner the month after the flight, 'apologises wholeheartedly' to all concerned.

He said Ward employs 10 people in his building firm, and that they would lose their jobs and Ward may lose his family home if sent to prison.

Bob Golinski, defending Hopwood, described that the defendant is 'otherwise a thoroughly decent hard working family man'.

The father-of-two, a carpet fitter, is 'deeply remorseful and ashamed' of his behaviour, Mr Golinski said.

Richard Orme said Howarth, a father-of-one, was the 'least aggressive and least offensive' of the four.

Mr Orme said Howarth was doing press ups to 'show off' to his friends as he had been training to compete in a boxing match to raise money for charity, in memory of his late father who died from lung cancer.

The defendant is 'deeply ashamed' of his 'foolish moment of exhilaration', Mr Orme said.

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The court heard that father-of-three Capper had not been drinking heavily for a long period before the flight, and if possible he wants to write a letter to all those on the aircraft to apologise.

Barristers defending all four men asked the judge to spare them jail.

But Judge Hilary Manley said their offending was too serious.

The judge told them: "None of you were in a fit state to be on an aircraft, but none of you cared.

"The arrogance and contempt each of you displayed is breathtaking.

"You were a group of loud, large, drunk men with total contempt for other passengers and misogynistic aggression to the crew."