An attention-seeking flight passenger got more than he bargained for when he typed out a fictitious threat on his laptop and ended up in police custody, a court heard yesterday.

Magistrate Lawrence Quintano heard how Briton Maximilian Adam Normile, a passenger aboard an Air Malta flight from Heathrow to Malta on Sunday, had typed out a threatening message on his laptop for a neighbouring passenger to see.

The message, typed in a thick font, read: "If I'm not reported on the way back I'll blow the plane to pieces".

Police investigations revealed that Mr Normile did not have the intention or the capability to carry out the threat which had been nothing more than an attempt to get some attention as he was feeling "sad and lonely".

Mr Normile, 27, pleaded guilty to alarming the public and threatening to commit a crime aboard the Air Malta flight on Sunday between 11 a.m. and 3.30 p.m.

The prosecuting officers said that during questioning Mr Normile had explained to them that he wrote the message because he knew that the passenger sitting next to him would read it.

In fact, after he typed out the words on his laptop, his alarmed neighbour informed the cabin crew about what he had just read and the captain ordered that Mr Normile be kept under tight observation for the duration of the flight. There was no commotion during the flight.

On arrival in Malta, Mr Normile was arrested and questioned by the police. He told officers he wanted to attract attention as he was passing through a rough patch. He also explained that he was an IT specialist and was coming to Malta to attend a conference on the subject.

While making it clear that he was "in no way amused", Magistrate Quintano put off the case to this morning with Mr Normile being remanded in police custody.

Police Inspectors Jeffery Cilia and Angelo Caruana prosecuted.

Lawyer Edward Zammit Lewis appeared for Mr Normile.