Rome alone: boy, 11, beats airport security

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This was published 11 years ago

Rome alone: boy, 11, beats airport security

By Andrew Hough

LONDON: An 11-year-old schoolboy flew from one of Britain's busiest airports to Europe on his own without a passport, ticket or boarding pass.

Liam Corcoran slipped away from his mother at a shopping centre 4.8 kilometres from Manchester Airport before catching flight LS791 to Rome after a series of blunders by staff. He passed through several security checkpoints before boarding the Jet2.com flight.

''He was with a large group of other children; he appeared to be in a family group - for whatever reason he wasn't checked,'' an airport spokesman said.

He was only detected when holiday-makers raised concerns about him during the two-hour flight. The captain radioed Manchester, where police told his mother he was on a plane to Italy. Crew accompanied Liam on a return flight to Britain later that day.

An airline spokesman said that because the plane was connected directly to the airport by an air bridge, a head count had not been required on board.

''However, head counts have immediately been put in place across each of our flights from all airports, including those where air bridges are in use. We are reviewing all our procedures and three members of staff have been suspended pending the investigation,'' she said.

Liam's father, Aaron Fort, 34, said his son had ''been a bit petrified by the enormity of it all''.

''If he had got off the plane as easy as he got on, Lord knows what would have happened to him,'' he said. Mr Fort said his son had been swimming earlier in the day and got into difficulties, which had caused him to panic.

''He must have got changed and given his mother the slip and then walked from the baths in Wythenshawe to the airport,'' he said. ''He has never had a passport and never been abroad. When we all lived in Blackpool we would go down to the front and ride on a tram - that's about it.''

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Three investigations are being held to establish how Liam was able to evade three security checkpoints.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: ''We are reviewing urgently with the airport and relevant airline how this occurred and identifying any actions needed to prevent a repetition.''

Liam was reported missing to police at lunchtime on Tuesday. He is thought to have run away from his mother, Mary, 29, while at Wythenshawe Civic Centre, about a mile from their home at Newall Green, Wythenshawe, Manchester.

It is unclear whether he walked to the airport or caught a bus.

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It is understood that he followed a family when he got to the packed Terminal 1 and that security staff scanned him but failed to realise he was alone, despite having no boarding card.

Telegraph, London

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