An heir to the French fashion house Hermès has appeared in a US court accused of attacking the pilot of his plane flying from Paris to New York.

Mathias Guerrand- Hermès, a polo-playing international socialite, tried to punch the captain of AirFrance 008 and also grabbed his crotch. During the fracas he became so unruly it took three attendants to restrain him, and he was handcuffed and shackled to his first-class seat.

He was arrested when the plane touched down in New York.

The 36-year-old, who is also described as a real estate investor, was sitting in first class when, about three hours into the trip and apparently under the influence of prescription drugs and a lot of alcohol, he sidled over to a woman across the aisle and sat on her armrest.

The woman woke up her husband, who asked Mr Guerrand- Hermès to return to his seat.

In the ensuing melee, the captain came out of the cockpit to calm the men down and offered Mr Guerrand- Hermès another seat in first class. His reaction was to punch the pilot and grab his genital area.

The pilot asked Mr Guerrand- Hermès to behave himself, to no avail.

“I’m not going to behave”, Mr Guerrand- Hermès reportedly said.

Mr Guerrand-Hermes was tackled by the flight crew and tied to his seat for the rest of the trip, a no doubt humiliating experience for a man who was married in 1999 in a 5-day wedding festival attended by 450 guests flown by private jets to different events in Paris and Morocco.

Mr Guerrand- Hermès, who lives in New York and is the son of the president of the Federation of International Polo, had reportedly mixed the prescription painkiller Propofan with “quite a bit of alcohol” and a witness said he appeared incoherent and unsteady on his feet.

He appeared in court dressed in a torn shirt, a cut lip and wearing trainers with no laces. He was charged with interfering with flight crew members and released on $50,000 personal recognisance bond.

He was also given back his belt and the laces to his sneakers.

The crime carries a maximum of 20 years in prison if he is convicted, but according to the New York Times, Mr. Guerrand-Hermès will only face up to six months in prison as long as he has no previous criminal history.

In a statement, Hermès of Paris said: “Mr. Mathias Guerrand does not have any involvement in the management of Hermès. Therefore, Hermès the company has no comment on this personal matter.”

His lawyers refused to comment.

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