Copyright 2002 Associated Press
Associated Press Worldstream
October 16, 2002 Wednesday
SECTION: INTERNATIONAL NEWS
DISTRIBUTION: Europe; Britian; Scandinavia; Middle East; Africa; India; Asia; England
LENGTH: 311 words
HEADLINE: Airline pilot caught with loaded pistol in his hand luggage
DATELINE: LONDON
BODY:
A Czech airline pilot was sentenced to four weeks in prison Wednesday after security staff found a loaded pistol in his hand luggage as he prepared to board his flight from Britain to the Czech Republic.
Vaclav Pojer, a captain with the Czech national airline CSA, told officials who arrested him at Birmingham International Airport on Oct. 7 that he had forgotten he was carrying the 6.35mm weapon in his briefcase.
Pojer, 52, was due to pilot a return flight to Prague airport where security controls had failed to detect the gun when he checked in for the flight to London the previous day. Pojer pleaded guilty to one offense of unlawfully possessing a firearm without the authority of the British government and one charge of possessing ammunition without holding a firearms certificate valid for the United Kingdom.
Pat Murtagh, chairman of the bench at Solihull Magistrates' court, said she accepted that Pojer had no "sinister intention" for the weapon, which is legally held in his native country.
Murtagh ordered that Pojer serve two weeks of his sentence with the rest suspended.
"You are in a position of trust and are more than aware of the seriousness of carrying a gun, a loaded firearm, onto a passenger-carrying aircraft, particularly in light of recent events," she said.
Questioned by police after his arrest, Pojer, a former military pilot, denied the gun was either for self-defense or the defense of his crew while flying.
Murtagh's lawyer, Nicholas Roy, said that Pojer had simply forgotten the gun was in his briefcase before leaving his country home for the flight to Britain. Roy added that it was "fairly commonplace" for people to own firearms in the Czech Republic.
"There was no suggestion of terrorism or anything like that," Roy said.
Murtagh is appealing against his sentence but his request for bail was refused.
Associated Press Worldstream
October 16, 2002 Wednesday
SECTION: INTERNATIONAL NEWS
DISTRIBUTION: Europe; Britian; Scandinavia; Middle East; Africa; India; Asia; England
LENGTH: 311 words
HEADLINE: Airline pilot caught with loaded pistol in his hand luggage
DATELINE: LONDON
BODY:
A Czech airline pilot was sentenced to four weeks in prison Wednesday after security staff found a loaded pistol in his hand luggage as he prepared to board his flight from Britain to the Czech Republic.
Vaclav Pojer, a captain with the Czech national airline CSA, told officials who arrested him at Birmingham International Airport on Oct. 7 that he had forgotten he was carrying the 6.35mm weapon in his briefcase.
Pojer, 52, was due to pilot a return flight to Prague airport where security controls had failed to detect the gun when he checked in for the flight to London the previous day. Pojer pleaded guilty to one offense of unlawfully possessing a firearm without the authority of the British government and one charge of possessing ammunition without holding a firearms certificate valid for the United Kingdom.
Pat Murtagh, chairman of the bench at Solihull Magistrates' court, said she accepted that Pojer had no "sinister intention" for the weapon, which is legally held in his native country.
Murtagh ordered that Pojer serve two weeks of his sentence with the rest suspended.
"You are in a position of trust and are more than aware of the seriousness of carrying a gun, a loaded firearm, onto a passenger-carrying aircraft, particularly in light of recent events," she said.
Questioned by police after his arrest, Pojer, a former military pilot, denied the gun was either for self-defense or the defense of his crew while flying.
Murtagh's lawyer, Nicholas Roy, said that Pojer had simply forgotten the gun was in his briefcase before leaving his country home for the flight to Britain. Roy added that it was "fairly commonplace" for people to own firearms in the Czech Republic.
"There was no suggestion of terrorism or anything like that," Roy said.
Murtagh is appealing against his sentence but his request for bail was refused.
