Kieran Harris says he was banned from an easyJet flight at the start of May (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)
A man who was banned from an easyJet flight and had police surround his house because of his name wants to change it.
Kieran Harris was due to fly with the airline to Alicante on May 25 but was sent an email the day before telling him he was banned from the Liverpool flight.
The email claimed ‘due to previous disruptive behaviour’ Kieran had received a ’10 year no-fly sanction until 15/03/2031′.
But the 21-year-old said easyJet confused him with a man who he shares the same name and birthday with.
It just so happens another Kieran Harris was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison for behaving aggressively and abusively whilst drunk on an easyJet flight in 2021.
The Metropolitan Police also stormed Kieran’s house in bulletproof vests last year after misidentifying him.
On another occasion, he says he was mistaken for the other Kieran when he was involved in a collision and police looked him up on a database.
The trainee auditor said: ‘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.
Kieran Harris says he is confused with another Kieran Harris (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)
‘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. 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.
Kieran felt ‘gutted’ when he received the email from the airline (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)
‘I’m thinking of getting a name change if this continues to happen.’
Kieran says easyJet requested a picture of his passport to confirm his identity, and eventually lifted the accidental ban – leaving him just hours to catch his flight.
Although the issue was eventually solved Kieran described the whole ordeal as ‘stressful’.
Kieran’s mum Sheena Harris, said it might be time to seek legal advice about the name mix-up.
‘He just wanted a week’s break in the sun to have a rest from work after lots of exams and revision,’ she 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.’
More: Trending
An easyJet spokesperson 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.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
‘I was gutted. I couldn’t quite get my head around it.’