A young courier landing at the Malta International Airport on Friday got off on the wrong foot after a knuckle duster was discovered inside his luggage.

Israeli Dekel Ovadia, 24, was passing through customs at around 9.30am, shortly after landing on a flight from Tel Aviv, when the airport scanner detected the metal knuckle duster in his hold luggage.

The young man was arrested and arraigned on Saturday, He admitted to the charge of having been in possession of the weapon which falls under a general prohibition in terms of the Arms Act.

Making submissions on punishment, defence lawyer David Gatt argued that his client had previously carried his knuckle duster through two other EU countries and had met with no similar trouble.

After hearing submissions by both parties and upon the accused’s own admission, the court, presided over by magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit, declared him guilty and fined him €695.

Inspector Darren Buhagiar prosecuted.

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