I think this is not about airport security.
The offences he was charged with by the police have nothing to do with airport security, but rather concealed weapons laws from 1953 and 1988.
If this makes it through court then the weapons he had are not a simple folding knife, or even something like a leatherman's tool.
Having moved to the UK recently, after living most of my life in the USA, I was a bit surprised to hear about "knife laws", so I read up on them, here's the best link I've found:
UK Knife Law- What you need to Know
Basically, if you have a reason to have a pocket knife, you're OK, but if you're carrying something that was clearly designed to inflict injury, you're going to jail.