Grandmother accused of assault by Easyjet after touching flight attendant's arm

A grandmother from Stroud in Gloucestershire was told she couldn't board her plane home after being accused of assault. Janet Kirby, 62, was refused permission to board an Easyjet flight on Sunday.

She was travelling with her sister Carol Thompson, when she said the pair were held back in the queue to board their flight from Murcia to Bristol, despite having paid extra for 'speedy boarding' passes. She said they were told the overhead lockers were full and they would have to check their hand baggage into the hold.



Frustrated at the lack of information, and at seeing other people pass her to board the plane, Mrs Kirby said she touched the attendant's arm to attract her attention and find out more information. "I said excuse me a couple of times and she ignored me. Then I touched her arm to get her attention," said Mrs Kirby. "She said, 'you have assaulted me, you're not boarding the plane'."

But Easyjet said she had gone further and added that police witnessed what happened, backing their stance. A statement from Easyjet said: "The customer was declined travel following a confrontation with a staff member. The decision was supported by police who witnessed the incident."