British cops start probe after Ryanair passenger’s racist rant
LONDON: The British police are investigating after footage of a man shouting racist abuse at an elderly black woman on a Ryanair flight went viral over the weekend, with the airline facing criticism over how it dealt with the incident.
The unidentified man insulted her after complaining that she had inconvenienced him as he tried to reach his seat.
"Don't talk to me in a f***ing foreign language you stupid ugly cow," the man is seen telling the woman before another man asks him to stop.
"I will carry on as long as I can with this ugly black bastard," he retorts.
Ryanair saidit was aware of the matter and had reported it to the police.
"Essex Police takes prejudice-based crime seriously and we want all incidents to be reported. We are working closely with Ryanair and the Spanish authorities on the investigation," the police said.
The video was taken by another passenger while the plane was waiting to take off from Barcelona to London Stansted Airport on Friday.
After the argument, the woman was moved from her seat. A flight attendant appears to tell the man he will discuss the incident with his supervisor, but the passenger is left in his place.
"I've seen airlines ground to a halt, police called, and passengers escorted off planes for less," Mr David Lawrence, who recorded the video, told BBC Radio.
STRIKES
The investigation comes as the Irish low-cost carrier, Europe's largest, announced yesterday a 7 per cent fall in profits in the first six months of the year. Ryanair has been grappling with the impact of recent strikes, high fuel costs and intense competition.
Britain's interior minister resigned this year over the treatment of Caribbean "Windrush" migrants who were invited to Britain after World War II but were left without documents and denied basic rights, a scandal that highlighted racial inequalities in British society.
Mr Lawrence said the woman, with whom he is in touch, is from the Windrush generation, and the frequency of such racist abuse made people numb to it.
"If the roles had been reversed, if that was a black man abusing an elderly white woman, I know the outcome would have been completely different," he said. - REUTERS
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
