Foreign airports criticised over flick knife find
06.09.07
Security at two foreign airports has been criticised after a passenger carried a deadly flick-knife with a two inch blade onto two planes. The passenger was stopped at Durham Tees Valley Airport, and four more of the knives were found in his hold luggage.
Officers at Durham Tees Valley Airport have been praised after they apprehended the man, who was returning from a trip to Thailand. A security warning has now been sent to other airports about the flick-knives, which are disguised as cigarette lighters, but the incident has prompted police to express concerns about the 'embarrassing' security arrangements at the foreign airports involved in the breaches.
The man had the weapon in his hand luggage, and a search of his checked-in bags revealed a further four knives. Before he was apprehended on Monday, the man had carried a knife on a plane in Bangkok Thailand and then another plane at Schiphol Airport, in Amsterdam. Police say the 2 inch blades, with a serrated top edge, were capable of killing somebody.
A spokesman for Durham Police said: 'There has been a double security breach here. The knife shouldn't have been in the cabin if it had been examined in Thailand and Schiphol. From our point of view, there are some serious questions that need to be raised about security at these airports They should be seriously embarrassed about this discovery.'
Following the detection of the flick-knives, the passenger - who is in his mid-40s and lives in Middlesbrough - was arrested for possessing an offensive weapon. He was due to answer bail at Darlington police station yesterday, where he was expected to be formally charged..
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