Norman Pearson ‘mortified’ when juice in his pie set off alarms at Manchester airport – but staff saw the funny side

A security alert was sparked at Manchester airport when a pork pie-loving pensioner tried to carry his tasty treat through the scanners.

Norman Pearson, 69, from Wigan, expected to breeze through security with a pork pie nestled between his holiday clothes for a flight to Spain.



Pearson, said to be meticulous when abiding by airport rules regarding liquids, was mortified when staff started searching his bag for prohibited items.

Norman Pearson.

His brother, Roy, said the juice within the sizeable pie had shown up on security scanners as a liquid.

“Seeing the funny side of it, and not being able to extract the juice from the pie and place into a plastic bag, airport security allowed both Norman and his delicacy to continue on their way and wished him ‘bon appetit’,” Roy told the Manchester Evening News.

Pearson was on his way to Málaga with a friend when the episode unfolded on Monday. Roy said his brother had purchased the pie the previous evening at his local pub, predicting that he might fancy a mid-flight treat.

“Norman and pork pies are regular travelling companions, but it’s the first time that it has caused an issue with airport security,” Roy said.

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“It certainly tickled me because he’s so precise. He doesn’t even wear a belt so he can get through security fast. He’s mortified if he gets held up so he’d be very surprised to be held up by a pie.

“The people in security said they have never seen that before. It must have been a very juicy pie.

“He was allowed to take it through security, but I’m not sure if it lasted until he got on the flight. Norman is a Wiganer, so he really is a pie-eater. He’s always been fond of pies.”