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Man who breached Heathrow security fined £220

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A man who bypassed Heathrow security and barricaded himself inside the cockpit of a British Airways aircraft escaped with a fine of £220.


Luis Costa caused a major security alert when he ran through a barrier and rushed through an engineering block at Terminal 3, before locking himself inside the cockpit of an empty BA Boeing 747. 


Costa, 38, from west London, was due to appear before magistrates last Tuesday after refusing to come out of his cell on his first court date. 


However, he appeared in front of magistrates on Saturday on an arson charge unconnected to the Heathrow incident. When in the courtroom, they also handled the airport security breach, MailOnline reported.  


He initially denied all charges but changed his mind, admitting to all the offences put to him.


Costa was accused of entering a security restricted area of an aerodrome at Heathrow without permission and a second count of boarding a BA Boeing 747 aircraft without permission.


Both offences were charges under the Aviation Security Act 1982.


However, Costa was let off with a £100 fine for each offence by magistrates in Uxbridge, west London after the security alert at the airport on March 5.


Costa, of Hounslow, west London, was also ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge, meaning he must pay a total of £220.


He also pleaded guilty to the arson charge, for a fire at an address in Chiswick in March.


He was released on bail for that offence and must return to face magistrates for sentencing in April.

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