Ryanair racism victim identified as Jamaican Windrush Generation
The Jamaican woman who was racially abused on a Ryanair flight from Barcelona to London Stansted is identified and is speaking out.
She is identified as Delsie Gayle. A 77-year-old, Windrush Generation Jamaican who moved to Britain in the 1960s. She had been on holiday to help cope with the death of her husband, her daughter said.
“In a few weeks, it’ll be one year since my dad died and I took my mum away for a few days’ break. My parents were married for over 50 years,” she told HuffPost, which agreed to refer to the woman only as Mrs Gayle.
Ms. Gayle told itv News, that the abuser came in, saw the number of his seat and asked her to get up to let him come in. Gayle was unable to move out of her aisle seat quickly enough to let the man sit down in his window seat as she is disabled. She told itv News that he pointed to her face and told her you “when I say get up I mean you are to get up”. She told him not to point to her face. He told her he do what he wants to do. He then went to his seat and decided he do not want to sit near her for the flight. This is when he got irate and began to hurl abuses.
The woman responds: “You smell. You need a wash.”
The video, shot by UK resident David Lawrence, shows the man demanding 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.”
She explained that since the incident she is very depressed and feel very low. “I feel very low, because he pay his fare to go on holiday, I pay mine, so why does he abuse me for that due to the colour of my skin?” she said, adding if the man gets away with it he will do it to someone else.
At one point the man is heard to say: “Don’t talk to me in a foreign language, you stupid, ugly cow.” He then threatens her: “If you don’t go to another seat I’ll put you in another seat.”
Ryanair’s head of communications, Robin Kiely, confirmed to BuzzFeed News on Sunday morning that the man has been reported to Essex police.
“We have reported this to the police in Essex and as this is now a police matter, we cannot comment further,” he said.
Essex police said in an emailed statement: “This incident, which we were made aware of this morning, is believed to have taken place on a plane at Barcelona Airport.
“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.
“We would encourage anyone with information to contact us on 101. You can also contact Crimestoppers 100% anonymously on 0800 555 111.”https://www.buzzfeed.com/patricksmith/ryanair-flight-passenger-abuse-police?utm_source=dynamic&utm_campaign=bffbbuzzfeednews&ref=bffbbuzzfeednews&fbclid=IwAR2Uwkg-HnEtLJKiMi78kxDZxZ3BoUjidjeOWoIHh4ZIw6YsUscFoVaTIBc
A spokesperson for Essex Police told the media: “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.”