Essex police say they won’t prosecute a group of men who allegedly hurled homophobic abuse at a woman and her girlfriend on a Ryanair flight from Stansted airport to Seville in June last year. In a statement, the police department said “evidential difficulties” in the case would prevent a “realistic prospect of a successful prosecution”.
Laura Muldoon, a social media manager at the Museum of London, tweeted a photo of the group of men making rude gestures, alleging they chanted abuse at her and her girlfriend during the flight. But Essex police say they won’t proceed with the case following “extensive enquiries”.
Muldoon claimed the men had called her a “miserable bitch”, “dyke” and “lesbo” in her Tweet and also claimed that cabin crew did nothing to put a stop to the abuse. In a series of Tweets, Muldoon said of the incident:
“The noise kept rising and eventually I asked a flight attendant to tell them to be quiet and that they were swearing a lot.”
“I think at this point, the men realised it was me that made the complaint and started referring to me using my seat number while shhh-ing very loudly as a collective.”
The men apparently sent a bottle of wine to Muldoon and her partner but when she declined the offer, they started shouting “lesbos, lesbos, lesbos” at them.
Ryanair responded to Muldoon’s complaint by saying it prides itself on high standards of service and professionalism provided by its crew. The airline said it “regretted” this wasn’t reflected in the service Muldoon experienced during this flight.
Ryanair did not respond to a request to comment on the news that the criminal case against the men had been dropped.