A man who was ‘banned’ from flying with easyJet because of his name claims that police also raided his house for the same reason.
You see, Kieran Harris has the same exact name and birthday as someone who is on the easyJet no-fly list for causing trouble.
That means that - on occasion - people think that they are the same person, which has led to problems for the Kieran Harris who hasn’t done anything wrong.
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One of the Kieran Harrises was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison for acting in an aggressive and abusive manner while intoxicated with alcohol on an easyJet flight back in 2021.
The other is a trainee auditor who just wanted to get away for the week to Alicante in Spain.
That was cancelled at late notice, and on another occasion - he claims - the Metropolitan Police stormed into his house wearing bulletproof vests.
Then there’s the time that he was involved in a collision and was looked up on a database and believed to be the other Kieran.
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Basically, it’s incredibly unlucky, but it’s having a real effect on his life.
Speaking about the flight to Spain, Kieran explained: “My friend got an email at 6pm the night before the flight, saying they had this ten-year flight ban and I was just removed off the booking.
“I was gutted. I couldn’t quite get my head around it.
“I wasn’t on the booking anymore, I didn’t have a seat on the flight, there was no point in me even going to the airport.
“We’ve had this previously.
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“It’s this person who obviously has the same name and date of birth as me.”
Last year, things were even more difficult.
“The police turned up at my family home last summer trying to question me,” he continued.
“It was quite serious, but within five or ten minutes they knew that it wasn’t me.
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“News articles are published with a photo of this person and you can see that it’s not me.
“They’re accusing me of doing something, whereas if they saw me in person any human being would be able to see that it’s not me, it’s just a bit frustrating.
“I’m thinking of getting a name change if this continues to happen.”
It’s a nuclear option, but given everything that he’s gone through, it just might be the easiest way out of this.
In the end, easyJet requested a photograph of his passport to confirm who he was, allowing him to get onto the flight with just hours to spare.
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It got resolved, but Kieran still admits it was ‘stressful’.
Kieran’s mum reckon it’s time to take legal action about the mix-up.
“He just wanted a week’s break in the sun to have a rest from work after lots of exams and revision,” Sheena Harris said.
“If this incorrect information is shared by easyJet, that could cause some quite serious issues.
“It’s quite upsetting.
“He’s a young man who has done nothing wrong, and it’s not very nice to think that there’s someone out there [like that] who has the same details.”
A spokesperson for easyJet said: “We are very sorry that Mr Harris was incorrectly advised he couldn’t fly with us.
“We made this decision in good faith as Mr Harris shared the same name and date of birth and was flying from the same UK region as a passenger we’d previously banned for a serious offence onboard.
“As soon as Mr Harris contacted us we resolved the matter and while he flew as originally planned we understand the frustration this will have caused so our team are in touch with him and will offer a gesture of goodwill in light of his experience.”
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “This complaint did relate to police attending an address for a Kieran Harris and it appears to have been a mistaken identity, for which we have sent an apology in writing.”
Tom Wood