A solitary bullet carried as a “lucky charm” and detected by an airport scanner on Friday has landed a female air passenger in court.

The incident spelt trouble for Andrea Gocmanac, a 34-year old Serbian national living in Malta, who told the court that she carried the bullet inside her wallet as a “lucky charm.”

But that “charm” turned out to be rather unlucky, as it landed its owner on the wrong side of the law.

The bullet was picked up by a scanner when the woman was about to catch a flight from Malta International Airport to Madrid on Friday evening at around 7:30pm.

She was arrested and escorted to court on Saturday to face charges for unlawful possession of ammunition in breach of the Arms Act. 

Gocmanac registered an admission and apologised for the incident.

Her lawyer, Charmaine Cherrett, pointed out that the accused had fully cooperated with the police, had registered an early guilty plea and had also apologised. 

In light of such circumstances the court, presided over by magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, declared the accused guilty upon her own admission and condemned her to a €700 fine, payable within three months. 

Inspector Christian Abela prosecuted.