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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Matthew Dresch & Ellie Kemp

Lawyer's family 'escorted off BA flight by police' after nanny barred from business class

A top lawyer says his family was escorted off a flight after their nanny wasn't allowed on to business class by the cabin crew.

Charles Banner, QC, 41, his two kids and their mum were removed from the British Airways plane at Heathrow Airport by armed police.

The barrister had paid for business class tickets, but he received that news at the boarding gate that the family nanny had been downgraded to economy as the flight was oversold.

Mr Banner said staff on the plane were 'rude' to him when he asked if the family nanny could move into business class as he and his wife wanted to work on the flight to Turin, Italy.

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He said one of the cabin crew even told him 'you wish', reports reports the Mirror.

The debate continued as the flight remained grounded, causing it to be delayed, until the pilot insisted the family be removed from the flight.

Mr Banner told Mail Online : "If BA had told me that the nanny could not sit with us in business then we would not have travelled and could have got a later flight. But they only told us that when we got to the boarding gate.

"I behaved perfectly but I was challenging the cabin crew because it was the right thing to do.

"It was a very upsetting event for all of the family and the way we were treated was appalling and in contrast to over 15 years of pleasant experiences on BA flights as a regular customer."

Mr Banner said there was a spare seat near him in business class, however, BA staff told him the nanny could not sit in it, he claims.

The barrister added that the cabin crew offered him compensation but would not explain why they could not use the free seat.

He went on to inform the BA workers he had made an official complaint about their behaviour.

Mr Banner is now demanding a full apology and a cash refund for the incident, which cost him around £4,000, Mail Online reports.

The lawyer, who vowed to never fly with BA again, has already received two verbal apologies.

Armed police escorted Mr Banner's family back through immigration as a matter of 'standard protocol' when passengers leave a plane.

A spokesman for BA told Mail Online: "We do not tolerate disruptive behaviour and the safety of our customers and crew is our top priority."

Mr Banner is considered one of the top four QCs in the UK in the field of planning, commercial and public procurement.

When he was appointed a QC in 2019 at the age of 38 he was said to be the youngest from that year's batch.

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