Jetstar man to fight charges over airport clash with DJ

Patrick Ulberg. Photo / NZ Herald

The Jetstar check-in assistant accused of attacking radio "shock-jock" Iain Stables at Auckland Airport will fight the charges.

Patrick Joseph Ulberg, 27, pleaded not guilty when he appeared in the Manukau District Court yesterday charged with assaulting Stables.

Ulberg worked for Skycare, the company that operates the check-in desks for Jetstar. He was granted bail to reappear next month.

The fight started when Stables missed his flight to Wellington last month. He told the Herald last week that he called Jetstar a "loser airline" and started to walk away before he was allegedly attacked.

He was taken to hospital with concussion and was also treated for cuts and bruises in Wellington.

Skycare spokesman Peter Yap would not say whether Ulberg still works for the company.

Jetstar spokesman Gerard Blank said he believed Ulberg had been stood down pending company investigations and the court process.

Stables was due to start a new job at Hauraki on Monday but the head of programming and marketing at The Radio Network, David Brice, said the start date was on hold. Mr Brice said the radio company would "catch up" with Stables next week.

Asked if the job appointment was still going ahead, Mr Brice said: "We need to talk about it."

He said the not guilty plea had impacted on Stables' start date.

"We now need to decide what needs to be done. I need to talk to Iain about what the right thing to do is and go from there."

Stables is known for his radio pranks, including shutting down three Northland beaches in 2004 by telling lifeguards there were sharks and a sewage spill.

In 2000, he was fined $1100 for impersonating a detective from Interpol and telling Los Angeles police that his then co-workers - who were trying to enter the United States - had kiwi eggs hidden in their "rear cavities".