The man at the centre of the disgraceful viral video which shows a woman suffering horrific racial abuse on a Ryanair flight could end up getting away with it, according to a British MP.
The man’s awful abuse began with him telling crew to “put her in another seat”, adding, “I tell you what, I hope someone sits there because I don’t want to sit next to your ugly face, your ugly fucking face.”
Eventually a Ryanair crew member arrived to intervene after he continued to racially abuse the woman.
Disgraceful treatment of elderly black customer suffering racist abuse on @Ryanair flight #Racism #WhitePrivilege pic.twitter.com/I1eyUK8ZLD
— Naomi Williams (@NaiNaiWilliams) October 20, 2018
She was then moved to another seat while the crew member told the man to “calm down”, though he was allowed to stay in his seat and continue his journey.
Shadow Transport Minister Karl Turner said, “Ryanair have ‘tolerated’ criminal behaviour. Police may now not be able to prosecute.
‘[Ryanair’s] failure to deplane the alleged racist offender, handing him over to the Spanish authorities probably means that he isn’t now prosecuted.’
“Unfortunately because @Ryanair is registered in Dublin not in the UK the alleged offence could only be tried by UK authorities if it was “in flight” to the UK. Section 92(1) Civil Aviation Act s.92(4) defines ‘in flight’.”
.@Ryanair have ‘tolerated’ criminal behaviour. Police may now not be able to prosecute. https://t.co/CsuQ1Fddyj
— Karl Turner MP (@KarlTurnerMP) October 22, 2018
People are now calling for a Ryanair boycott after they failed to remove the man in question from the flight.
The airline released a statement which read, ‘We are aware of this video and have reported this matter to Essex Police.’