Samantha Simmonds says six-year-old daughter ‘verbally abused’ on Ryanair flight

The Jewish TV presenter and broadcaster Samantha Simmonds has claimed her six-year-old daughter was left “shaking” and “sobbing” after being verbally abused on-board a Ryanair flight.

The BBC World News anchor – who previously presented on Sky News – took to Twitter to describe the “serious incident” involving “an angry drunk passenger” on a flight travelling from Norway.

The passenger unexpectedly “started screaming foul obscenities” at Simmonds’ daughter, causing the child to break into tears during the flight to London Stansted Airport yesterday, she claimed on Friday. 

The journalist’s husband attempted to physically restrain the passenger before Ryanair crew moved the “clearly inebriated” man away, she wrote.

Just as she was comforting her “shaking sobbing daughter,” a flight attendant asked what the child had “done to provoke” the incident.

No members of the flight crew, she continued, offered an apology for the incident which later caused her daughter to have a nightmare about the passenger.

“My daughter dreamt last night this man came to her school with a gun and shot everyone – this incident is not OK and should not just be shrugged off by your company,” Simmonds wrote.

Ryanair asked Simmonds to submit an official complaint. “We’re so sorry your daughter experienced this on board,” read a Twitter message from the airline company on Friday.

A Ryanair spokesperson said: “The crew of this flight from Oslo to London Stansted … intervened when a passenger became disruptive. In line with procedure, the passenger was moved to a different seat and there were no further issues for the duration of the flight.”