ONE of the Pendle men cleared of threatening to blow up a plane has spoken of his relief as it was estimated the case could have cost more than £1million.

Tayyab Subhani, 30, of Brierfield, who was on trial with Mohammed Safdar, 42, of Nelson, said he ‘wants to get his life back’ after a judge ruled they had no case to answer.

Jurors at Chelmsford Crown Court were instructed to find the men not guilty of endangering an aircraft.

Speaking exclusively to the Lancashire Telegraph, Mr Subhani said: “It has been very difficult for me and very difficult for my family.

“I’m very pleased that I’ve been cleared, and also my friend. I’m very happy for him.

“I don’t think it should have ever gone to court, but I feel very happy and relieved. I just want to get back on with my normal life, that I was living before.”

It had been claimed Safdar, supported by Subhani, had made threats to kill crew and passengers after an argument broke out with air stewards at 30,000 feet.

They were arrested on May 24 after a Boeing 777 heading from Lahore, Pakistan, to Manchester was escorted by an RAF Typhoon jet and was forced to make an emergency landing at Stansted in Essex.

Judge Charles Gratwicke described the case as 'tenuous and peppered with inconsistencies'. He added: "Under the circumstances no jury can properly convict these men."

Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson questioned how much taxpayers' money had been spent on the incident and court case.

He said: “I have met with one of the gentlemen who has now been cleared as this row was going on and he explained his side of the story, and how this had been a massive misunderstanding.

“I’m not surprised that they have been cleared. These men always protested their innocence and I am pleased the verdict has been reached.

“But this incident has cost the UK taxpayer an enormous amount of money - fighter jets were scrambled, a plane was redirected, and I believe there were over 200 police officers on the ground.

“It will have cost well in excess of a million pounds, I’d say hundreds of thousands of pounds, if not in excess of a million.

“Public safety has to be paramount, but how was that threat level assessed? How did we get into this situation?

“It will have cost an exorbiant amount of money. Now that the trial is over and due process has taken its course, I will very much be speaking to the Home Office and others to see what lessons can be learned.”

The trial had been set for six weeks but lasted for just three.

A series of witnesses told the court that although the men had acted like idiots, they had not heard a bomb threat.

Nadeem Sufi, captain of the Pakistan International Airlines flight PK709, originally alerted the authorities to the scare.

But he later told the court that, as the severity of the diversion became apparent, he tried to reverse this decision by telling air traffic control the men were ‘laughing and joking’.

In statements read outside court, both men said they were relieved that their ordeal was over and they had cleared their names after wrongly being branded terrorists.

A family friend of the innocent men, who identified himself only as Arshad, said: “This was turbulence in a teacup.

“Basically this was nothing and they’ve made it such a big deal.

“We’re just grateful that they will get their lives back on track as best they can. It’s just a relief that the nightmare is over. ”

Robert Oxley, campaign director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “This case has involved a huge amount of time, taxpayers’ money and disruption.

"Airline security must be taken very seriously but in the sober light of day chance should have been taken to reflect on over the case. Clearly the behaviour of Tayyab Subhani and Mohammed Safdar was both idiotic and unacceptable, but taking the case to court ultimately appears to have been a waste of taxpayers’ money.”