A man was given a three-month suspended sentence after he admitted to urinating on the floor of a KM Malta Airlines flight last Sunday – the first day of the airline’s operation.

The man, Andreas Heinze, from Germany, aged 49, disobeyed cabin crew orders to wait until it was safe the use the toilet, a court heard Tuesday.

Police inspector Roxanne Tabone told the court that the man was on a flight from Berlin and asked to use the bathroom while the seatbelt sign was on. 

The crew informed him that he could not go to the toilet while the seatbelt sign was on. He was asked to take a seat at the very back of the plane, closest to the toilet and told he could go in in about five minutes. But the passenger relieved himself over the carpeted floor of the aircraft. 

Heinze was arrested as soon as the plane landed in Malta. He was later taken to Mater Dei Hospital where he was certified as being under the influence of alcohol. 

Heinze pleaded guilty and said he regretted what had happened.  

Magistrate Joseph Gatt found the accused guilty by his own admission and sentenced him to a three-month jail term suspended for three years. 

Lawyer Adriano Spiteri appeared for Heinze.