A ‘makeshift flamethrower’ was discovered in the hand luggage of a passenger at Luton Airport.
Polish man Pawel Boldak, 30, was found with a can of WD40 with a cigarette lighter attached to it when he was searched by security staff.
Boldak said he had made the device to protect himself if someone tried to rob him and he had intended to discard it before he went to catch a plane, but had forgotten about it.
He had also forgotten he had cannabis in his bag on November 12 last year, prosecutor Daniel Siong said at Luton Crown Court on Friday.
Mr Siong said the oil in the can could have been sprayed at someone’s face and ignited with the lighter to create a ‘makeshift flamethrower’.
Boldak pleaded guilty to possessing a dangerous article on airport premises and possessing cannabis and was given a six month prison sentence suspended for 18 months with supervision to address his cannabis misuse, and a three month curfew.
Meanwhile, Luton Airport has been criticised for allowing an employee to help smuggle illegal immigrants to the country.
Last Wednesday Reverend Anthony Quarco, who worked at the airport for three years, was found guilty of 14 immigration offences and jailed for nine years for smuggling hordes of illegal migrants into the country in exchange for nearly £150,000.
He used his job at Luton Airport to issue fake passports, and even smuggled a man into the country under his own name.
A spokesman for Migrationwatch UK said: “The fact that this scam continued for three years raises questions about the quality of supervision at Luton Airport”
A UK Border Agency spokesman said: “It was thanks to the Agency’s own systems that Quarco’s corrupt activity was exposed and we acted swiftly, alongside the police, to instigate the investigation that has led to today’s conviction.”
The airport refused to comment.