TUI passenger called a 'bully' after fat-shaming a woman on flight: 'She's a right lump of lard'

A TUI passenger called out a fellow passenger over her size on Facebook. (iStock)

A 'bully' businessman has been blasted for fat-shaming a fellow plane passenger by branding her a 'lump of lard' on social media.

Lewis Openshaw, 24, ranted on Facebook that he was dismayed to be sat next to a 'big sweaty fat f*** with a hairy chin with a minging face' on his flight to Tunisia from Manchester Airport last week.

Pals piled in with cruel sexual jibes following Lewis' post, in which he said the passenger looked "like she's headbutted a flaky cheese and bean pasty from Greggs."

When a friend laughed at the post, Lewis replied: "I'm f***ing fuming mate. Can't even put my arm on the arm rest cause of her 6x4 biceps."

Another pal asked him to take a photo of her to share and Lewis replied: "I will when she's asleep. She'll t*** me. She's a right lump of lard."

Less than an hour later he shared an image of the woman appearing to be sleeping next to him with her hand on face.

Lewis, who uses the name Lewis Opey on social media, said, "Ladies and gentleman, I introduce [to] you the culprit! [Name] the lump of lard."

It is unclear if the name used by Lewis was the actual name of the passenger or not.

The security company director, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, became abusive when contacted for comment about the fat-shaming posts.

He said, "I hope you get cancer and die" before deleting the posts from his profile.

Dr. Stuart Flint, senior research fellow in public health and obesity at Leeds Beckett University, said abusing someone over their weight can lead to serious mental health issues.

He said, "It is exactly like playground bullying. You can see from some of the emojis used that it is perceived as quite comical as if it is a joke.

"In terms of impact [on the victim of the abuse], the first thing I would say is the impact is great.

"You have to think about the impact on the person. It can be quite vast and very serious. It could impact their mental and physical health but also self-harming and suicidal thoughts.

"There needs to be greater restrictions on social media and throughout in terms of weight stigma and discrimination."

According to TUI's website, it is a breach of their conditions of carriage to "behave in a manner which causes discomfort, inconvenience or damage to other passengers" and they may "take such measures as we deem reasonably necessary to prevent continuation of such conduct."

TUI declined to comment.

This story originally appeared on The Sun. Read more content from The Sun here.