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5 June 2019updated 02 Sep 2021 5:29pm

David Mesher’s non-apology for his racist Ryanair rant is all too typical

Some regard the question of whether they’ve behaved in a racist or sexist way as a question of whether they are a bad person, rather than commentary on what they’ve done. 

By Stephen Bush

David Mesher – the retired railway worker who verbally abused a 77-year-old black British pensioner on a Ryanair flight back from Spain – has apologised for his actions. Well, for a given value of the word “apology” at least.

Speaking to ITV, Mesher “apologised for all the distress” caused by what he blamed on what was “probably” a result of him losing his temper and added for good measure that “I’m not a racist person by any means”.

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