Ben Thompson
A man was banned from easyJet flights for a decade all because of a mix-up involving his name, and even once had his home raided by police due to the same error.
21-year-old Kieran Harris wasn't aware of the travel ban placed on his name until it came time to book a holiday to Alicante in Spain.
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When the graduate realised he was barred from flying with the airline, he came to believe there had been a case of mistaken identity and he'd been mixed up with a criminal sharing his name and date of birth.
It wasn't until the eve of his trip from Liverpool that he received notification of his ban, despite having booked a month in advance.
He was informed that due to 'previous disruptive behaviour', he was on a flight ban until March 15 2031.
The man sharing his name had been sentenced to 12 weeks in prison in 2021 for behaving in an abusive manner while drunk on an easyJet flight.
Speaking of the mix-up, the innocent Kieran Harris, who is training to be an auditor, said: "I was gutted. I couldn't quite get my head around it.
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"I wasn't on the booking anymore, I didn't have a seat on the flight and there was no point in me even going to the airport.
"We've had this previously. It's this person who obviously has the same name and date of birth as me.
"The police turned up at my family home last summer trying to question me. It was quite serious, but within five or ten minutes they knew that it wasn't me.
"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.
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"I'm thinking of getting a name change if this continues to happen."
easyJet lifted the ban after seeing a photo of his passport, but Harris maintains that the situation has been very stressful.
Harris said: "This has made me less likely to want to fly with easyJet in the future. I definitely don't want to fly with easyJet again."
An easyJet spokesperson said: "We are very sorry that Mr Harris was incorrectly advised he couldn't fly with us.
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"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 on-board.
"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."
Speaking of the mix-up, 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."