Retired doctor 'forced off EasyJet flight to London at gunpoint in row over legroom'

A retired doctor was forced off an EasyJet flight to London at gunpoint accused of being “violent and aggressive” in a row over leg room, according to reports.

Sam Ramsay Smith, 72, was on his return flight to Gatwick from Amsterdam where he was treated for a rare medical condition that made it difficult for him to walk.

Dr Smith said he paid the airline an extra £27 for a seat with more leg room but when he got on board the plane the seat he had expected to sit in was taken.

He claimed he was ordered off the flight by police officers armed with sub-machine guns when he complained to cabin crew about his seat.

The father of three, who required a pair of walking sticks, told the Sun: “One said to me 'are you going to resist?' I replied 'do I look as though I am capable?”

EasyJet hit back in a statement to the same newspaper by saying Dr Smith had changed his flight at the last minute so the seat he which to sit in had already been taken.

It said: “After changing Dr Ramsay Smith’s flight at his request we were unable to assign him the same seat he had selected on his original flight.

“During boarding he was verbally abusive to crew over being unable to sit in this seat.”

The airline said Dr Smith refused the offer of two other alternatives seats before assaulting the plane’s cabin manager.

It was at this point police were called to escort him away, EasyJet’s statement read.

The date of the incident was not immediately clear.