Ryanair racist passenger video: Essex Police pass on probe to Spanish authorities after identifying suspect

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Spanish police are poised to launch an investigation into the racist abuse suffered by a black disabled London woman on a Ryanair flight.

Police in Barcelona today confirmed they would formally open a probe into the attack on Delsie Gayle, 77, a Windrush migrant, who was called an “ugly black bastard” by a white man sitting next to her on a flight from the Spanish city to Stansted airport on Friday.

It sparked a furious backlash against the airline after footage of the abuse, captured by a fellow passenger, went viral on Facebook.

In the aftermath of the incident, Ryanair said it was aware of the video and had reported the matter to Essex Police.

The force today said authorities in Spain were now leading the investigation after British officers identified the man involved.

A spokeswoman said: “We have worked to identify both parties involved in this incident and passed this information to the Spanish authorities.

“Our officers will continue to provide assistance where necessary throughout the course of this case.”

Police in Spain said they would formally open their investigation once the necessary paperwork, sent by their British counterparts, arrived.

A spokesman for the Guardia Civil said: “This passenger reported the incident to police in Essex.

“British police have told us verbally they are going to send us her statement so we can begin a formal investigation but we haven’t received it yet.

“When it reaches us we will be a position to start investigating.”

Ryanair

The Civil Guard confirmed that although the incident appeared to have taken place inside a Ryanair plane at Barcelona’s El Prat Airport, the force had not been called to deal with it on the day.

Ryanair has received stinging criticism for the way it handled the incident on flight FR9015.

It has faced growing calls of a boycott when staff failed to remove the unruly male passenger from the plane, instead asking Ms Gayle if she wanted to switch seats.

A spokesman for the airline today said it had contacted Ms Gayle on Sunday.

He said: “Our customer care team contacted the Gayle family on Sunday. As this is now a police matter, we cannot comment further.”

In the video shot by UK resident David Lawrence - which has been viewed more than 6.3 million times - the man can be seen shouting at the woman to move seats, while her daughter tells him her mother is disabled.

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

Later in the argument, he says to the pensioner: “Don’t talk to me in a f****** foreign language you stupid ugly cow.”

A fellow passenger tries to intervene to stop the abuse and he replies: “I will carry on as far as I can with this ugly black bastard.”

Despite a flight attendant warning him of his “super rude” behaviour, he is apparently allowed to remain on the flight.

Ms Gayle, from Leyton, who moved to Britain in the 1960s, said she was shocked by what happened.

She said she believed that if the situation had been reversed and she had attacked the man, the police would have been called, adding other passengers who did not intervene failed to act because she was black.

“Because I’m black, I’m sad to say that, they didn’t want to get involved with me,” she said.

Unable to hold back tears, she told ITV News: “I feel really depressed about it. I go to my bed and say, ‘What have I done?’ I haven’t done anything (for him) to attack me because of the colour of my skin.”

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