Clown strip-searched before children's charity flight

PC Konk taken aside at Birmingham airport for having plastic handcuffs, a bubble-blowing saxophone and metal bits on his costume

 

A clown in full costume was left stunned after being strip-searched by Birmingham airport security as he tried to board a plane.

Children's entertainer David Vaughan, 60, was dressed as PC Konk, complete with huge floppy shoes, a policeman's helmet and face paint, when he was taken aside by security staff at Birmingham airport.

Mr Vaughan had been booked by Variety Club Midlands to entertain 100 disadvantaged children on a plane as it circled the region on a one-hour Christmas charity flight. But a piece of metal on his costume set off the security alarm, prompting security guards to confiscate his plastic handcuffs and order him to strip down to his shorts and T-shirt.

Staff also demanded he put the liquid for his plastic bubble-blowing saxophone into a clear sealed plastic bag.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/22/clown-strip-searched-birmingham