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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Sam Elliott-Gibbs

Moment police kick barrister's family off BA flight in nanny business class row

This is the moment police kicked a barrister and his family off a British Airways flight after they were faced with the prospect of looking after their own children when the airline downgraded their nanny to economy.

A row started when Charles Banner QC discovered the nanny would not be with them in business class because the flight was oversold.

Mr Banner boarded the flight from London Heathrow to Turin and was unhappy to discover the group would need to be separated.

He was joined by his wife Tetyana Nesterchuk and their two children, aged one and four, and insisted his nanny travelled in Business with them as he wanted to work on the two-hour trip.

The high-flying barrister paid for the £4,000 upgrade only to be told as they boarded that the alteration had been made.

Charles Banner QC was escorted off BA flight 2578 from Heathrow Airport to Turin (Triangle News)
Police swarmed when staff called for support moments before take-off (Triangle News)

An argument then broke out after his attempts to get his staff member to sit alongside them in the plane's pricey exclusive area failed.

The row prompted the pilot, who had already started moving the aircraft from the stand at Heathrow, to turn the plane around.

It is claimed the pilot insist that he would not fly until Mr Banner and his family had been removed. It forced a 90 minute delay.

Armed police then storm the plane as things became heated as concerned staff called for support.

British Airways said it 'does not tolerate disruptive behaviour' (AFP via Getty Images)

In the video, filmed on February 3, one officer tells Mr Banner: "Can we speak outside" before he repeats: "Can we speak outside?"

He then warns: "The aircraft's not going anywhere until we've finished our conversation."

Another policeman then adds: "We've got a lot to discuss. The quicker we get this done, the better."

Mr Banner, not visible in the clip, can be heard saying that he would prefer to "discuss this here".

An officer responds, saying: "No you don't" as another insists: "Can we go outside, please? Put it this way, we can discuss it very, very nicely."

Charles Banner had boarded the flight from Heathrow to Turin (linkedin)

The barrister tells the officer: "This is unfair."

Moments later, Mr Banner, his wife, two children and nanny all leave the plane.

He is now demanding financial compensation from BA and an apology.

He defended his actions to MailOnline, saying his behaviour was "perfect" throughout and described the incident as "very upsetting".

Mr Banner added: "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."

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

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