Police to probe ‘racist abuse’ on plane

A MAN who filmed a racist incident on a Ryanair flight said he chose not to intervene so he could publicise what happened.

David Lawrence, who filmed a man subjecting a woman to a tirade of racist abuse, said in the age of social media “visual is important” and “now the world knows” what happened.

He said: “I had to make a difficult decision at that time because if I had stepped in I don’t think you would have seen the footage that I captured.”

Prime Minister Theresa May’s official spokesman declined to comment on the specific case, but told reporters: “When people are travelling and going about their public life, no one should be subjected to intimidation or any form of abuse.

“The Prime Minister has always been clear that racial abuse is abhorrent.”

The video, recorded on October 19 before take off from Barcelona to London Stansted, shows a man shouting at a woman telling her to move seats while her daughter tries to stand up to him, telling him her mother is disabled.

He said: “I don’t care whether she’s f ****** disabled or not – if I tell her to get out she gets out.”

In the video the man can be heard calling the woman an “ugly black b ****** ”, and shouting “don’t talk to me in a foreign language you stupid ugly cow”. He was not confronted by any other passengers, Mr Lawrence added.

Shadow Aviation Minister ,Hull East MP Karl Turner, said Ryanair had “failed spectacularly” and the man should have been removed and handed to Spanish authorities. He believes that the man is unlikely now to be prosecuted.

Ryanair reported the incident to Essex Police on Sunday. It added: “As this is now a police matter, we cannot comment further.”