Dad on delayed Ryanair flight ‘threatened with arrest’ in bizarre Pringles row with crew

AN IRISH father who was travelling from Spain with his five-year-old daughter claims he was told he would be arrested by police for theft upon arrival at East Midlands airport after refusing to pay for a pot of Pringles.

Johnny McMenamin and his daughter experienced major delays at a Barcelona airport, with their plane finally departing four hours and 39 minutes later than scheduled. 

Ryanair state that they offered all 146 delayed passengers refreshment vouchers to compensate for the delay in the departure lounge.

However, Mr McMenamin did not collect this offer and claims that flight attendants later refused to give him vouchers once he boarded the plane.

A mid-air row ensued after Johnny McMenamin refused to pay the £5.50 charge for a bottle of water and a snack-sized pot of Pringles.

The products would have been available free of charge to Mr McMenamin if he presented the compensation vouchers from the departures lounge.   

“I asked for a bottle of water and Pringles for my daughter and they insisted I needed to pay £5.50, which I refused out of principle” he claims.

“It was the early hours of the morning; my daughter was hungry and exhausted.”

He added, “I couldn’t believe they were trying to charge me for a snack for a child”

The argument reached its climax when the pilot allegedly made an announcement to the entire cabin, that there was a man ‘stealing from the bar´ and that the police would be waiting in arrivals to deal with him.

At this point, Mr Mcmenamin conceded, he says he didn’t want to cause his little girl “any more stress”.  

Ryanair say they do “not tolerate unruly, disruptive or unlawful behaviour”.

They did, however, “sincerely apologise for the delay”.