A man has been sentenced to two months imprisonment after security officers at Heathrow Airport found a hand grenade in his carry-on luggage as he prepared to catch a flight to Italy from the West London airport.
Domenico Giovinazzo, an Italian national who is only 19-years old, was stopped and quickly taken into custody as he passed through the security checkpoint at Heathrow’s Terminal 2 at around 5.30 pm in January 2020.
The security alert prompted a full-scale emergency response as police rushed to the scene and the terminal building was partially evacuated. Specialist bomb disposal officers were called to the scene and it was soon discovered that the grenade was in fact decommissioned and didn’t pose a threat.
“There are certain items that are strictly prohibited from being brought into an airport and bringing a hand grenade – albeit decommissioned – was both reckless and dangerous and it caused a huge amount of disruption to the airport and for other passengers,” commented Chief Superintendent Sean Wilson, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Aviation Policing Command.
“There are various security checks in place to identify prohibited items such as this and when this item was spotted, we had specialist officers on-hand to quickly respond. Thankfully they were able to identify the item was not a threat and nobody was hurt.”
Giovinazzo was charged with carrying a prohibited article in an aerodrome and appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates Court on Monday. He pleaded guilty to the offence and was sentenced to a two-month prison term, suspended for one year. He has also been ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £128.
