NEWS

STEEL PAN 'TERRORISTS' WIN £5,500 IN DAMAGES FROM AIRLINE

NEWS 06 FEB 08 - Budget airline Ryanair were ordered to pay nearly £5,500 to a group of steel pan musicians, including a blind man, who were ordered to leave a flight at gunpoint after being wrongly branded as terrorists. The five musicians from the Caribbean Steel International band were on their way back to London from a festival in Sardinia when a passenger claimed their behaviour was suspicious and complained to the captain. The psychology professor said one of the group, Michael Toussaint, appeared to be blind but appeared to be reading newspapers and magazines. A flight official and two other families refused to fly if the five -- the only black people on the flight -- remained on board, prompting Captain Sam Dunlop to demand their removal. They were all given the all-clear by security and despite Toussaint presenting his disability card and removed his sunglasses to prove he was blind Ryanair refused to let them back on the plane. District Judge Roger Southcombe, at the Mayor's & City of London Court, ruled that they were removed unreasonably from the flight and awarded them £800 each plus damages.

Embarrassed

The court heard that the band members were not sitting together because the flight was full and that Mr Toussaint was indeed blind and his friend had been reading him the football scores before take-off. The judge in summing up, said the group had been scared and embarrassed when Italian police carrying guns came on board to removed them. Judge Roger Southcombe said: "Just because a passenger was black or someone did not like the look of him or her, it was not acceptable to offload that passenger." The five were stranded in Sardinia overnight and missed spending New Year's Eve with their families. They eventually returned on New Year's Day via Liverpool. Band member Jason Constantine, 43, said: "We were told nothing by the airline or the pilot. The least you would have expected in this situation was an explanation and an apology but that wasn't forthcoming." The judge also criticised Ryanair for being "misleading" by telling the press that airport security had decided to remove the group. The airline is said to be planning to appeal the decision.

HOME