Gran hauled off aircraft by armed cops after ‘refusing to pay for £9 tuna sandwich’

A grandmother was escorted off a plane in Turkey by armed police after refusing to pay £9 for a tuna sandwich, which she claims was frozen.

Lily Ifield, 79, claimed she was served a ”soggy” and ”cold” sarnie on the Jet2 flight from Stanstead to Bodrum when she refused to cough up any cash for it, as cabin crew told her ”this isn’t a restaurant, it’s a plane”.

The pensioner claims airline staff reported her to cops and she and her daughter were greeted by four armed officers in Bodrum.

She said they then frog marched them through the airport – even though she needs a knee-replacement surgery and uses a walking stick.

Lily, of Ware, Herts claimed officers then grilled them over their clash with the airline staff but they were let go after cops realised how ”stupid” the argument was.

The pensioner, who went to Turkey for a four-day birthday holiday, told The Sun: ”The police were standing at the entrance to the plane, waiting with guns like we were master criminals.

”We had no idea what we had done. I was turning round to people, saying ‘I think I’ve been arrested over a sandwich’.

”The steward said, ‘will you shut up’. He said, ‘I don’t want you talking’. I said ‘excuse me, I can talk as much as I like’. We were being treated like convicts over a bap.”

Lily said the pair were left ”shaking” after being greeted police and they struggled to work out the reason for them being apprehended because cops could not speak English.

She reckon cops were really ”embarrassed” after they realised how trivial the argument was.

Lily said the pair were so traumatised by their ordeal that they stayed in their room for their entire trip.

She said: ”It ruined our holiday. All over a flipping tuna sandwich. No-one would have eaten that.”

Lily claims the pair, who flew out from Stansted on November 3, spent £50 on four mini bottles of wine, before refusing to pay for the sandwich.

She said after they complained about the sarnie, staff accused them of ”unacceptable” behaviour and warned them they could be banned from all UK airlines.

Lily said she refused to pay for the sandwich as she thought it would give her salmonella, saying: ”The sandwich had mildew all over it, like dew and I thought, ‘oo-err’ . It was frozen’. I said, ‘I can’t eat that, it’s freezing and it’s wet and soggy’.

“He said, ‘well you’ve opened it, you’ve got to pay for it’. And I said, ‘I’m not going to pay for it, I don’t want it – I won’t eat that. It’s awful’.

“He came back twice after that trying to push us around but we still refused to pay – that sandwich could have made me unwell – it had salmonella written all over it.”

Jet2 claimed in a statement that the pair were escorted off the flight after smuggling duty free booze onboard.

A spokeswoman for Jet2 told The Sun: ‘We can confirm that these customers displayed continued disruptive and unpleasant behaviour on board flight LS1609 from London Stansted to Bodrum, including the illicit consumption of alcohol that had been purchased in duty free and brought on board.

”As a result, police met the aircraft on arrival at Bodrum to escort Mrs Ifield and her daughter off the aircraft.

”As a family-friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to such behaviour, and we make it very clear that customers cannot consume their own alcohol on flights.

”We will always support our crew in instances when they are subjected to disruptive, rude or unpleasant behaviour while prioritising the comfort of all customers and crew so that they can enjoy their flight.”

Lily blasted the claims on The JVS Show on Three Counties Radio, saying: ”I don’t know what they’re talking about.

”I think they’re so embarrassed over this sandwich and the police and the way we were treated.

”They are the ones that behaved disgustingly and disturbed me all the way through the flight.”

Jet2 has been contacted by Daily Star Online for comment