A passenger on a flight to Malta whose craving for a smoke got the better of him, ended up with €400 less in his pocket after being fined for defying a smoking ban. 

Basel Almughany, a 29-year-old Palestinian national living in Spain, was travelling on a Maltese-registered aircraft from Santiago de Compostela to Luqa airport earlier this week, when the incident took place.

The man was sniffed out by crew member smoking in the toilets during the flight, in spite of the clearly flashing no-smoking signs. 

That smoke proved costly for the man who was subsequently arrested upon landing at Malta International Airport and taken to court the following day. 

He pleaded guilty to the solitary charge of smoking inside a plane compartment when such act was clearly prohibited, landing a €400 fine after the court, presided over by magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras, took note of his early guilty plea. 

Inspector Silvio Magro prosecuted.