An man claiming to be an “astronomer” who was due to be charged with shining a laser into the cockpit of an Air Malta aircraft as it came in to land is to be arrested after failing to turn up in court.

David Camilleri, 48, from Rabat, told police he would be arriving late for the case, which was due to start at 9am yesterday. But by 10.40am, after his name was called out six times, he failed to turn up.

Magistrate Carol Peralta ordered police to arrest the man next Monday night and bring him to court to face the charges the following day.

Mr Camilleri is expected to be charged with shining the light into the cockpit of an aircraft on July 16 at around 9.30pm.

It is alleged his actions could have endangered the flight.

At the start of proceedings yesterday, Police Inspector Martin Sammut informed the magistrate that the accused had been formally notified of the sitting but had not shown up.

The inspector said Mr Camilleri had told him he had a problem with waking up in the morning as he worked night shifts and might be late.

In comments to timesofmalta .com, Mr Camilleri said he was pointing the laser at a star to point it out to friends and an Air Malta aircraft happened to be approaching. However, it was not landing as it was seven kilometres away from runway 13.

He said the beam could have struck the windshield and he did not realise it was so powerful, adding that he made a genuine mistake.

Mr Camilleri also said the court summons indicated he should be in court today, not yesterday, adding he would be in court so his lawyer could provide an explanation.