An air rage drunk who spat in the face of a female flight attendant after being tied up for the protection of other passengers has been warned to expect a jail sentence.

Magistrates heard cabin crew were forced to place a mask over the mouth of Khalid Mir after restraining him on a seven-hour Emirates flight from Dubai to Birmingham.

Mir, who had been downing duty-free vodka, was strapped to a seat after hurling drinks over passengers and airline staff following a row with a woman sitting in front in him.

The 39-year-old, of Havelock Road, Saltley, Birmingham, eventually spat at a female crew member who tried to give him a drink through a straw, calling her a "dirty white".

The married father pleaded guilty at Birmingham Magistrates' Court to being drunk on an aircraft and failing to obey the lawful command of the jet's pilot, Alan McIntosh.

Opening the facts of the offences, prosecutor Colin Phillips said Mir became disorderly and began swearing just 30 minutes after take-off from Dubai at 2.50pm on November 17 last year.

Mr Phillips said of Mir: "He became involved in an altercation with a female passenger and this became an issue which required the flight crew's attention.

"As a result of the defendant's inability to calm down at the request of the cabin crew, he was issued with a formal warning by the captain of the aircraft.

"However, the defendant's behaviour was still threatening and disorderly and it was eventually felt necessary to restrain him at the back of the aircraft.

"He was tied into a seat with his hands and feet tied and it was decided to place a mask over his mouth for other people's protection."

After the restraint, the court heard, a female member of the crew noted that Mir was using his tongue to attempt to remove the mask.

In a statement read to the court, the crew member said: "When it was my turn to check on him, I gave him drinks through a straw. He spat in my face when I was only three feet away. I was disgusted."

Mir, who was arrested when the flight arrived in Birmingham, has more than 50 previous convictions, including drug-related matters and 25 theft and kindred offences committed between 1991 and 2013.

Magistrates ruled that the maximum six-month sentence available to them was insufficient and committed Mir for sentence at Birmingham Crown Court on March 8.

Mir covered his head with a jacket as he left court on unconditional bail.