Former champion jockey Paul Carberry today pleaded not guilty to a charge of breaching the peace on board a flight from Spain to Dublin.
Carberry (31) allegedly set fire to a friend's newspaper on an Aer Lingus flight returning from Malaga on October 1st.
Jockey Paul Carberry, leaving Swords District Court after the previous hearing last October
At Swords District Court, Judge JP McDonnell told Mr Carberry that he was charged with engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour under the Air Navigation and Transport Act, 1973 and 1998.
He asked Carberry how did he plead, and the jockey replied "not guilty".
It was Mr Carberry's third appearance in court in connection with the incident, with the previous hearing last October being put back to await instructions from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) on possible further charges.
A representative for the DPP told the court there would be no further charges and that there would be about seven witnesses for the prosecution. They include some of the crew members who were on board the Aer Lingus flight at the time.
Barrister Amanda Connolly, for Mr Carberry, said she would be calling three defence witnesses during the trial, which is expected to last half a day.
Judge McDonnell set the date for the trial at May 22nd next year in Swords District Court and added that the case would be brought up for mention on April 25th to confirm this date.
Ms Connolly asked if Mr Carberry could be excused from appearing on April 25th and this was granted without any objection from the State.
The jockey, from Rathfeigh, Tara, Co Meath, was arrested at Dublin Airport when the plane landed in the afternoon of October 1st.
At a previous hearing, he insisted the incident was not a joke and that there was no drink involved.
PA