A GRAN who refused to pay for a still-frozen £9 tuna sandwich on a flight was nabbed by armed cops.
Lily Ifield, 79, was on a four-day birthday trip when she refused to pay for the inedible “soggy” and “cold” bap she was served on a Jet2 flight to Turkey.
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Cabin-crew raged “this isn’t a restaurant – it’s a plane” and called four officers armed with guns and batons to escort her from the plane, in Bodrum.
Shocked Lilly, a retired secretary, said: “The police were standing at the entrance to the plane, waiting with guns like we were master criminals.
“We had no idea what we had done. I was turning round to people, saying ‘I think I’ve been arrested over a sandwich’.
“The steward said, ‘will you shut up’ he said, ‘I don’t want you talking’. I said ‘excuse me, I can talk as much as I like’. We were being treated like convicts over a bap.
“We got to the entrance and the police were there with all their guns. My daughter was saying, ‘perhaps someone has put drugs in our luggage mum’. We were shaking.
“Then we were frog-marched miles through the airport even though I need a new knee and use a walking stick.
“I kept asking, ‘excuse, what have we done?’ And they kept saying, ‘no speak English, no speak English’.
“My daughter said, ‘look, my mum just sent a sandwich back – what’s this all about?’
“It only ended when they suddenly realised how stupid the argument was they had been called for and told us “just go”. They were clearly so embarrassed.
“We were so upset we just stayed in our room for four days. We felt sick with worry. It ruined our holiday. All over a flipping tuna sandwich. No-one would have eaten that.”
Gran-of-one Lily, of Ware, Herts., and her daughter flew out from Stansted on Sunday 3 November with Jet2.
The nervous fliers shared four mini bottles of wine on the flight to calm their nerves – spending £50 before refusing to pay for the tuna sandwich.
But when they complained to the airline, from their hotel, they were accused of “unacceptable” behaviour and warned they could be blacklisted by all UK airlines.
Blasting claims they smuggled alcohol on board, Lily said: “It’s a terrible, disgusting lie.
“They have made it up because they are so embarrassed about the sandwich they had to think of something else.
“We’re not feisty at all. I live on my own with two chihuahuas and a parrot in a village.”
Lilly said no video could exist of her and her daughter acting inappropriately at any time. She said: “Anybody on board is welcome to get in touch.”
Describing th tuna clash, Lilly said: “The sandwich had mildew all over it , like dew and I thought, ‘oo-err’ . It was frozen’. I said, ‘I can’t eat that, it’s freezing and it’s wet and soggy’.
“He said, ‘well you’ve opened it, you’ve got to pay for it’. And I said, ‘I’m not going to pay for it, I don’t want it – I won’t eat that. It’s awful’.
“He came back twice after that trying to push us around but we still refused to pay – that sandwich could have made me unwell – it had salmonella written all over it.
“It’s clear it would end up coming out of the steward’s pocket because he was so unnecssarily pushy.
“Then when we reached Turkey they had the police waiting for us. Honestly, I was shaking.”
Lily and her daughter flew back with Jet2 on Thursday 7 November. The airline has provided no proof of their its alcohol smuggling claims.
A spokeswoman for Jet2 said: “We can confirm that these customers displayed continued disruptive and unpleasant behaviour on board flight LS1609 from London Stansted to Bodrum, including the illicit consumption of alcohol that had been purchased in duty free and brought on board.
“As a result, police met the aircraft on arrival at Bodrum to escort Mrs Ifield and her daughter off the aircraft.
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“As a family-friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to such behaviour, and we make it very clear that customers cannot consume their own alcohol on flights.
“We will always support our crew in instances when they are subjected to disruptive, rude or unpleasant behaviour while prioritising the comfort of all customers and crew so that they can enjoy their flight.”
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