The father of two said: “I support everything that’s done to make our skies safe but looking at the size and weight of what are little more than toys suggests that common sense flew out of the window that day. He added: “I was saddened on several fronts but managed to refrain from a John McEnroe-style outburst.” Richard was travelling with his nine-year-old stepson, Will, to visit the youngster’s mother Vicky, bask in the sun and play a few games of tennis.
But borders staff told him they would have to hand over the rackets or pay £40 to go back through security and get them on board but the flight was due to set off in minutes. Now Richard is appealing for the airport to stop destroying the hundreds of items it seizes every year and either auction them or donate them to charity. Richard said: “This would be a real positive force in trying to contribute some good back into the community as they must seize hundreds of items carried in good faith that don’t meet the baggage restrictions test.
“It seems a crying shame to me that these are ending up in landfill and are not being used for good.” He said that in Pennsylvania in the US in 2004, the airport there raised $120,000 in its first year from confiscated items auctioned off on ebay, which was then ploughed back into the community. A spokeswoman for Leeds Bradford Airport said: “Government legislation dictates what can and cannot be used as hand luggage. All UK airports are mandated to adhere to government legislation, compliance in this matter is frequently audited.”
4 comments:
All the confiscated goods are taken home by the people who confiscate them. Why do you think they take harmless goods from passengers?
"Wherever you give any agent of the state extra powers, they will always, always abuse it."
So you could use them as weapons could you? Well you could use your hand luggage as a weapon too. Doesn't that mean they should ban carry on luggage altogether.
Anyhow I'd rather be be hit with a tennis racket than the latest thousand page hardback blockbuster.
I'm not even sure of the legality of these confiscations. If something is on a list of banned items then that's fine. However if the item is not listed as banned an the security staff (no Patty they are not agents of the state) make a unilateral decision to confiscate the items then I would like to see a test case on the destruction of the items.
The terrorists are laughing their asses off right now.
Patty O'Heater, you really don't know what you're talking about. All the confiscated goods ARE destroyed, and if any member of staff is caught with any item they face instant dismissal. Goods are confiscated by order of the government and not individual airports, and the security staff are just doing their job, whether they agree with it or not..
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