Criminal History of UK Airport Workers Pass Under Radar

Workers at UK airports are not checked for crimes committed overseas, possibly exposing the UK to airside terrorist activity.

Since 2003 staff have been checked against UK criminal records, but offences abroad are not covered because the government says it would take too long and be too complex to check, the BBC has revealed.

Aviation Minister Jim Fitzpatrick says anybody who is able to work in a restricted zone is screened in exactly the same thorough way as any member of the public.

After 9/11, the government introduced mandatory criminal records checks for all staff working airside.

A Department for Transport statement says attempting to check overseas records would require "the cooperation of a large number of foreign countries, delays and complex comparisons of international legal systems".

By Elizabeth Clifford-Marsh