Davi Stretton Mellor was thrown off the plane alongside his wife, Kerry-Anne Millerchip on Monday. Photo / Facebook
Davi Stretton Mellor was thrown off the plane alongside his wife, Kerry-Anne Millerchip on Monday. Photo / Facebook
A British grandfather thrown off a plane by more than a dozen Spanish police has claimed he was discriminated against because of his facial tattoo.
Davi Stretton-Mellor, 33, was with his wife, children and grandchildren on a flight to Gran Canaria when a row broke out with passengers they claimed were banging on seats.
Mr Stretton-Mellor said he was woken by police after the plane diverted to Santiago de Compostella Airport in northern Spain and forced to leave.
The indignant grandfather said: "They were just being so horrible to us and made us feel like absolute scum.
"I do have a tattoo on my face, a tribal tattoo, and part of me thinks it was discrimination because of that."
He said he and wife Kerry-Anne Millerchip, their daughter and son-in-law, young children and grandchildren, aged just two and three, were forcibly removed from the flight from Birmingham to Las Palmas by around 17 police officers.
When the drama unfolded Davi said he was asleep and was woken by Spanish police who demanded he leave the plane.
He said they grabbed him by his collar and dragged him out of his seat, before hauling him along the aisle and off the aircraft.
When his family protested they were told they too would have to leave and the police set about removing them.
Mr Stretton-Mellor said police picked his younger grandson aged two up by his arms before hauling him off the aircraft, the Daily Mail reported.
Describing the whole episode as 'terrifying', Davi said it was linked to an incident shortly after they boarded when he spoke to a group of passengers behind them, who were making a lot of noise and banging on their seats.
He said: "We took our seats and within five minutes we had a problem with a group behind us. They were Polish people, a mixture of burly blokes and women, and the blokes were banging on the seats being noisy.
"I turned around and asked them if they could be quiet. I was very pleasant and just said please can you stop banging on the seats. They replied by swearing at me.
"I'm a family man and I was just trying to keep the peace on the plane but you can't do that with a bunch of rowdy intoxicated blokes who have no respect for anyone else.
"I went to the toilet and one of them followed me and asked why I was going to the air hostess? I said I wasn't just to keep the noise down.
"Then someone else behind them stood up and had a go at all of us."
Mr Stretton-Mellor said things soon calmed down and that he subsequently fell asleep during the flight.
"I fell asleep and next thing I knew we are at Santiago de Compostella airport and I was being woken up by eight police officers," he added.
"I was absolutely scared to death. They grabbed me by my collar, lifted me up, dragged me off the plane by the scruff of my neck and threw me out into the arrivals area.
"They said 'that's it, you are not getting back on the plane'. Next thing I know I'm seeing around police officers dragging my wife and daughters and other family members through some sort of terminal.
"Then they threw us out of the airport and just said 'you are stuck here, be on your way'.
"How we were treated was absolutely disgusting."
The family was onboard a Ryanair flight when the drama unfolded, and the plane diverted to an airport in northern Spain. Photo / AP
The family were told to wait while their luggage was taken off the aircraft, but only some of it was removed with the remaining items, including a including a rucksack with money and an iPad in it, left on-board.
The shell-shocked family found a friendly taxi driver who told them where they were and that they would need to get to A Coruña Airport 40 miles away if they wanted to get to Las Palmas.
He took them to the centre of Santiago de Compostella where they found hostel accommodation for the night and the following day they had to catch four buses to get to A Coruña airport.
They then had to stay there for another night before finally making their way to Las Palmas on Wednesday and that was thanks to a kind-hearted relative who booked new flights with a different airline by credit card.
Davi and Kerry-Anne were accompanied by their daughters Skyla and Shelby-Ann, Kerry-Anne's daughter Keeley Millerchip, her partner Andrew Bostock and their sons Kenzie and Jayden.
It was Andrew's mum who came to their rescue booking the onward flights, which cost more than £1,000.
The family eventually made it to their holiday destination on Wednesday, the Cala Nova Hotel in Puerto Rico, where they holiday every year.
Davi said: "It's like a home from home for our family. The receptionist was almost crying when we arrived and said she had been worried about us as we'd been in touch during our ordeal.
"I'm happy now we're here, we're pretty skint but are just going to make the most of it."
Before arriving Davi said they had another difficult encounter with Ryanair at Las Palmas Airport when they tried to pick up some of their luggage.
"There was an issue with boarding passes in order to get our luggage and it proved very difficult," said Davi.
"There were four cases they had kept, as well as a rucksack which had been in the overhead locker. It had 500 euros in it and an iPad but they were no longer there."
Davi said he plans to take the matter up with Ryanair "at the highest level", though their return flights are with another airline.
But the family's experience fell on deaf ears with the airline.
A Ryanair spokesman said: "This flight from Birmingham to Gran Canaria diverted to Santiago after a number of passengers became disruptive inflight.
"The aircraft landed normally and the passengers were removed and detained by police upon arrival, before the aircraft continued to Gran Canaria.
"We will not tolerate unruly or disruptive behaviour at any time and the safety and comfort of our customers, crew and aircraft is our number one priority.
