A sea captain, about to board a flight out of Malta on Thursday was instead diverted to court after an air pistol was found in his luggage. 

Ciobaru Dan, 52, was about to catch a flight to his homeland Romania, when the Walther PPK/S type airgun was spotted during airport checks.

The passenger was taken into police custody and escorted to court on Friday, admitting to the illegal and unlicensed possession of the weapon, but insisting that he had no idea that such an air pistol required a licence. 

Legal aid lawyer Victor Bugeja explained that although ignorance of the law was no excuse, it could still be taken into account when meting out punishment.

Moreover, the accused had cooperated all along, the lawyer argued. 

Having heard submissions on punishment, the court, presided over by magistrate Astrid May Grima, declared the accused guilty and handed down a one-year jail term suspended for two years. 

Inspector Hubert Gerada prosecuted.