A passenger who successfully sued an airline after he fell asleep on a plane and was taken to the wrong country revealed today he might not see a penny of his compensation.

Stephen Rees, 40, was awarded £1,150 damages against Egyptair after he was left stranded in Japan when the cabin crew failed to wake him during a stop-over at his destination of the Philippines capital Manila.

But he fears that the cash - of which £500 was for pain and suffering and £650 was for the cost of a flight back to England - could be taken by the Legal Aid Board which has been funding his three-year battle for compensation.

Mr Rees initially sought £250,000 damages against the airline, which he blamed for him losing his job as a bodyguard in the Philippines and causing him a three-week-long nightmare in trying to get to England.

In making his ruling at Luton County Court last Friday, Recorder Clive Million said the airline was in breach of contract for failing to wake him.

But Mr Rees said he was bitterly disappointed by the level of damages awarded to him, although Egyptair was ordered to meet his legal costs of about £8,000.

"I believe I won't get anything because the Legal Aid Board might want to take it off me," he said. "I even had to hitchhike back to my wife's home after the case as I don't have any money.

"My main concern was winning the case but the compensation was a total disgrace."

Mr Rees, whose parents live in Bingley, is due to be released in November from a prison sentence imposed for the theft of refrigerators.

He said he intended to move back to Bradford with his wife.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.