T-shirt deemed a 'security risk' at Heathrow

'Security risk': Brad Jayakody in his t-shirt

A man was nearly barred from a flight after the t-shirt he was wearing was deemed to be a “security risk”. Brad Jayakody, from Bayswater, central London, said he was "stumped" at the objection to his Transformers T-shirt. Mr Jayakody said he had to change before boarding as security officers objected to the gun, held by the cartoon character. Airport operator BAA said it was investigating the incident [BBC]. It is not the first time security at airports have asked passengers to remove ‘offensive’ t-shirts. In January 2007 a man travelling to London from Australia was told he could not board a Qantas flight while wearing a t-shirt which had the statement “Bush No.1 Terrorist” emblazoned upon it [BBC]. In August of the same year a man was stopped from boarding a JetBlue flight at Kennedy Airport. He had been wearing a t-shirt displaying Arabic writing [NY Post]. The script also had an English translation which read "We Will Not Be Silent". He had been allowed to board only after putting on another t-shirt.