Susan Boyle accuses police of treating her ‘like an animal’ during frightening Heathrow airport meltdown
Star revealed the stresses of catching a flight combined with her Asperger’s led to her panicking
TERRIFIED Susan Boyle last night accused cops of treating her like an animal during her Heathrow airport meltdown.
SuBo revealed the bust-up was sparked by her Asperger’s condition.
But talking exclusively to the Scottish Sun, the singer insists the authorities overreacted and didn’t care about her autism.
Susan, 55, of Blackburn, West Lothian, said: “I was very frightened - it was badly handled.”
The Britain’s Got Talent star says she now has “strategies” in place which allow her to deal with her “bad days”.
We told in April how the singer was at the centre of drama in the BA lounge at London’s Heathrow airport.
She argued with airline staff before cops were called in to deal with the bust-up.
Susan has revealed the stresses of catching a flight combined with her Asperger’s led to her panicking.
But she insists she was mistreated by airport staff and the cops.
She said: “My Asperger’s meant that I was extremely anxious and upset at Heathrow that day. The overcrowding, checking-in, luggage, getting to right gate etc.
“I can’t remember what the argument was about, but I am sorry for my part in it.
“But what I would say is the airport just thought, ‘she’s distressed and disruptive, let’s do something with her’.
“The police shouldn’t have surrounded me like an animal. It made me frightened.
“It didn’t need eight police officers, I’m only 5’2”. They should’ve gone away.”
The I Dreamed A Dream singer was flying home to Scotland with her PA when things kicked off.
Witnesses say she kept repeating “I’ve done nothing wrong” as police turned up.
They led her away from the terminal before she was later driven home to Scotland by a pal.
Susan has now revealed one of Simon Cowell’s close colleagues was also in the lounge and could have easily fixed the situation.
She said: “The head of Syco’s media was there and my PA but the police wouldn’t let him see them.
“That was wrong, they didn’t understand about my condition. I was upset yes but all I needed was someone to talk to me.
“All I can say to BA is am sorry what happened that day. But the treatment of me was hellish. Not letting me on a plane so I had to be driven home.
“It was humiliating and degrading. It is known I have Asperger’s.
“The way they were with me made it so much worse.”
The incident came just three weeks after a similar episode at Derry Airport.
She had been travelling with her brother John who is understood to have left her on her own to fly home.
Passengers say heard Susan scream “Help me” before staff took her away. A friend travelled over from Scotland to then fly back with her.
But Susan - who is blindly loyal to John and her eldest brother Gerry - refused to talk about that incident.
She said: “Derry was a personal thing I don’t want to talk about.”
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She was diagnosed with Asperger’s in 2013. It came after doctors wrongly told her parents she had been starved of oxygen at birth.
Susan says she has now comes to terms with her diagnosis and is looking forward to the future.
She said: “My Asperger’s, I’m trying to control it. I know I can fly off the handle.
“People tell me what I’ve done and ask me what I’m going to do about it. I’ve now learnt strategies how to cope with it.
“I’ve got to because I know I can sometimes get out of control. Over the past few weeks I’ve felt stronger.
“Alright I’ve had my bad days like what happened at Heathrow.
“I’ve got a bit of a temper but I control it. I’ve felt more confident now than a few weeks back. But I won’t rest on my laurels.”
There are around 700,000 people in the UK living with Asperger’s.
The condition is a form of autism which means sufferers can struggle with emotions and have difficulty in social situations because they don’t pick up on non-verbal cues.
And despite being branded “Simple Susie” by bullies at school, the singer revealed experts said her IQ is actually above average.
Now Susan wants to share her own experiences in the hope it might help fellow sufferers.
She said: “What I’d say to other people with Asperger’s is during those bad days don’t be afraid to look for help.
“I’m getting support from my family and friends. They are fantastic.”
Susan’s parents were told not to expect much from their daughter when she was born.
But now she has been diagnosed correctly she sees no reason why it should hold her back.
She said: “Yes I have Asperger’s, but so what? I’m going to sing my heart out and be better than before.
“Most people who have difficulties with Asperger’s have been left behind.
“The system thinks they’re too difficult to deal with and doesn’t care about them. That’s insulting.
“I know people with various disabilities who have done degrees and achieved great things. They have been let down at the very beginning.
“These people have been given labels by society through ignorance.”
The modest singer became a global sensation after wowing BGT judges with her stunning rendition of Les Miserables track I Dreamed A Dream at her audition for the TV talent show.
She was treated at the specialist Priory clinic, in London, for nervous exhaustion immediately after her stint on BGT ended.
But she recovered and has now become one of the most famous musicians in the world.
She completed a tour of the UK and America in 2014 and has just finished her seventh album.
Now she wants to become a voice for fellow Asperger’s sufferers and show them they can still achieve their dreams.
She said: “I hope I give other people hope that they can become whatever they want.
“They don’t have a voice and don’t know how to deal with it.
“I can be that voice if they want me to.”
Last month we told how Susan’s grasping brother Gerry Boyle, 62, was using the late Sir David Frost’s name to plug his lottery scheme.
The telly legend’s family threatened legal action over claims by Boyle, from Musselburgh, East Lothian, that the pair hatched the idea together.
Son Wilfred, who looks after the late Sir David’s estate, said: “I have spoken to my father’s business advisors, his friends and his lawyer.
“They, like myself and the rest of the family, have no recollection whatsoever of this idea.
“We are also not aware of any friendship between Dad and Mr Boyle.”
It came after Boyle blackmailed Susan by threatening to kill himself unless she handed him £50,000 in 2013, according to their relatives.