Ryanair passenger who called woman 'ugly black b*****d' will not face charges in UK

Jacob Jarvis25 February 2019
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A plane passenger who called a 78-year-old woman on a Ryanair flight an "ugly black b*****d" will not face criminal charges in the UK over the tirade.

Essex Police said on Monday that prosecutors have no authority to bring charges against David Mesher, from Birmingham, who denied he is racist in media appearances after the incident.

Mesher, 70, was filmed unleashing the tirade on a flight from Barcelona to Stansted last October.

However, the force has determined it can take no further action due to the tirade taking place on Spanish soil ahead of take off.

A statement from Essex Police said: "Following disturbing footage on social media we have completed a thorough investigation into reports a woman was subjected to racial verbal abuse on a stationary plane at Barcelona Airport.

"Although the offence did not happen within the jurisdiction of England or Wales, we conducted a thorough investigation and sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service. They did not have the jurisdiction to advise on any charging decision.

"We have completed our enquiries as far as we are legally able to, given that the incident did not happen within our jurisdiction and are now in contact with the Spanish legal authorities so that they can determine how they wish to proceed."

The shocking footage in question showed Mesher telling Delsie Gayle "don't speak to me in a foreign language, you stupid ugly cow" while on the budget airline flight.

Mesher previously told ITV's Good Morning Britain the dispute began after he asked Ms Gayle to move from her seat but "she didn't seem to want to get up".

"I probably lost my temper a bit and ordered her to get up," he said, adding that he "absolutely" regrets his behaviour.

"I'm not a racist person by any means and it's just a fit of temper at the time, I think," he continued.

Asked at the time if she accepted the apology, Ms Gayle said: "I don't think so. You must forget and forgive but it's going to take a long time for me to get over what he has done to me."

Ryanair defended the conduct of its staff at the time, stating that workers were aware of an altercation but not of the racist insults, and that it reported it to police at earliest opportunity of becoming aware.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in