Tayyab Subhani and Mohammed Safdar, who were described as 'idiots, not terrorists', have no case to answer, judge says

The trial of two men for allegedly threatening to blow up a Pakistani plane in mid-air has been abandoned after the court heard they were "idiots", not terrorists.

Two and half weeks into the hearing at Chelmsford crown court, Judge Charles Gratwicke ordered jurors to find Tayyab Subhani, 30, and Mohammed Safdar, 42, not guilty of endangering an aircraft.

The case against the men, who live in Nelson, Lancashire, was "tenuous and peppered with inconsistencies", the judge declared. "Under the circumstances, no jury can properly convict these men."

The incident began on 24 May this year when an argument at 30,000ft erupted between the two men and a female member of the cabin crew. The Boeing 777, carrying more than 300 passengers, was heading from Lahore, in Pakistan, to Manchester when it was forced to make an emergency landing at Stansted in Essex.

Safdar, supported by Subhani, it was at first claimed, had made threats to kill all those on the plane. The two men were returning home from the funeral of Safdar's mother.

Nadeem Sufi, captain of the Pakistan International Airlines flight PK709, originally alerted the authorities to the scare. Two RAF Typhoon fighter jets were scrambled and escorted the passenger plane to Stansted.

But a series of witnesses told the court said that although the men had acted like idiots, they had not heard a bomb threat. Sufi said when it became clear that the incident was not so serious, he tried to reverse the order to divert by telling air traffic control the men were "laughing and joking".

The court heard that PIA had released its own internal inquiry, which contradicted evidence given by its staff to police and in court, only when ordered to by the court.

The prosecutor, Brian O'Neill, acknowledged on Thursday that: "In light of the state of the evidence, it has been decided it is no longer appropriate to seek convictions in this case."

In statements read outside court, both men said they were relieved their ordeal was over and they had cleared their names after wrongly being branded terrorists. Raza Sakhi, a solicitor, said: "This is a victory for Mr Safdar, his loved ones and those that knew he was innocent of the allegations he was facing."

Barristers for both men said they did not blame the police or Crown Prosecution Service for the case being brought to court. Peter Rowlands said: "In fairness to the prosecution, it is now common ground that had certain documents held by Pakistan International Airlines been made available from the outset, these two men would not have had to face trial."

Speaking for Safdar, Sakhi added: "Due to the misinformation supplied to the UK authorities by members of the crew of flight PK709, the UK was put to considerable expense. Mr Safdar was wrongly vilified as a terrorist based on the same information. Mr Safdar was separated from his family and remanded in custody for 73 days as a result of this misinformation."

Biant Bansal, speaking on behalf of Subhani, said: "This case has collapsed after it became clear that witnesses against him had not told the truth. This brings an end to six months of stress and anxiety for Mr Subhani, and the cost to him and his family has been very high.

"He's delighted that his name has now been cleared and we will press for a full inquiry as to the conduct of Pakistan International Airlines in this case."

The trial,which had been scheduled to last for five weeks, is estimated to have cost more than £30,000 and the deployment of the RAF jets another £40,000.