A GRAVESEND holidaymaker is behind bars in a Florida jail for allegedly assaulting crew members and threatening passengers on a flight back to London.

Sean Jude Kelly has been charged with aggravated assault and resisting arrest following the incident on a British Airways flight to Gatwick from Cancun, Mexico, on March 31.

The plane had to make a detour and land in Orlando after the Wrotham Road resident allegedly became violent, started picking fights with other passengers and spitting at flight attendants.

Hours before take off the 31-year-old sent a tweet to British rapper Wiley about his "mad fear of flying", adding he was "popping valiums" to cope.

Kelly, who described himself as a ‘moneybroker’ online, claimed he took sedatives given to him by a Canadian couple as his medication to cope with his fear had been stolen while on holiday in Cancun.

He told American television: "I probably had about a quarter bottle of vodka and to be honest I don’t remember anything after that.

"Next thing I remember was being in the back of police car.

"It must have reacted with the pill and I don’t know what the pill was to be honest with you."

It is being reported Kelly could face anything from a fine to up to 20 years in prison for the alleged incident, which included verbally abusing officers in Orlando and resisting arrest which left him with a black eye.