Weapon-smuggling passenger suspected of smoking on Leeds Bradford flight arrested on the runway

Cabin crew suspected that Arshad Khan was lighting up in the toilet during the journey on October 12, 2021, after smelling cigarette smoke coming from the aircraft’s lavatory.

The 51-year-old, who was returning from a holiday, was confronted by staff when he returned to his seat but denied smoking and became “more and more aggressive”, prosecutor Harry Crowson told Leeds Crown Court this week.

The pilot was notified and there were concerns about what Khan might have done with the discarded cigarette butt.

Border Force UK officers were waiting to arrest him when the plane landed at Leeds Bradford Airport. During a search of his luggage retrieved from the hold, they found a black knuckleduster and a stun gun, disguised as a torch, which could deliver an electric shock.

Mr Crowson said the battery was flat but after being recharged was in full working order. Khan, of Wycliffe Gardens, Shipley gave a no-comment interview but later tried to claim somebody had planted the weapons in his bag.

He has 20 convictions for 56 offences, including a a seven-year sentence in 2012 for dealing in Class A drugs.

He admitted possession of a prohibited weapon and an offensive weapon. He had initially pleaded not guilty but changed the pleas on the day of his trial.

Khan appeared at Leeds Crown Court via video link from HMP Leeds where he has been held on remand for the past two weeks after failing to show for a previous court appointment.

Mitigating, Paul Cleasby said he had already had “significant punishment” having been on remand.

Judge Robin Mairs jailed him for a month and conceded that Khan was likely to be released either immediately or soon, having already served the mandatory half of the term, with the rest to be served on licence.

He told Khan: “You were were on holiday in Turkey, but you behaviour was such that the police were called to meet you on the runway.”