An airline passenger who previously admitted perpetrating a bomb hoax as he checked in for a flight to Ireland vacated his plea yesterday.

James Tully was arrested on July 5 this year at Birmingham International Airport after prosecutors said he falsely claimed to have explosives in his luggage.

Tully, of Bryndale Avenue, Kings Heath, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to communicating false information contrary to the Criminal Law Act at a hearing last month and was due to be sentenced at Warwick Crown Court.

But Judge Richard Cole accepted a request that his plea be vacated and adjourned the case for a plea and case management hearing at the same court on August 17.

The 41-year-old was granted conditional bail.