Man sues British Airways for 'sitting him next to fat passenger'

A holidaymaker who is suing BA for GBP10,000 has told a court he was injured after being forced to squeeze into a seat next to an obese man who was “the size of Jonah Lomu”. Stephen Prosser, 51, claims he suffered personal injury and loss of earnings after being made to sit next to the large passenger during a 12-hour flight from Bangkok to Heathrow. On Friday, Pontypridd county court heard the self-employed civil engineer claim cabin crew ignored his complaints that he would be injured if forced to sit next to the “extremely large” passenger, who he described as being 1.93 metres and weighing approximately 140kg. He said he chose not to take issue with the passenger because he seemed “self-conscious”, but did complain to cabin crew, who allegedly told him there were no other seats available on the fully booked Boeing 777 and did not allow him to swap with someone else. Prosser said the incident in January 2016 left him with a continual back spasm and an injury causing his sacroiliac joint at the bottom of his spine to malfunction. He said being forced into an unnatural position during the long-haul flight also aggravated a 12-year-old spine injury caused by driving long distances for work.<br/>