Man suffering from Huntington’s disease was turned away from a Cardiff bar because bouncers thought he was DRUNK
Ben Jones, 24, has illness which causes lack of physical coordination and involuntary body movements
BOUNCERS have been slammed after they turned away a disabled customer during Pride celebrations on Saturday night.
Ben Jones, 24, suffers from Huntington’s disease – which causes a lack of physical coordination and jerky body movements.
But bouncers at Chapel 1877 on Churchill Way in Cardiff denied him entry after mistaking his symptoms for being drunk.
Pal Helen Evans said Ben, from Abertillery, hasn’t drunk alcohol for years.
But she said that despite producing his Huntington’s card as proof of his symptoms the security staff just told them to “go away”.
She added: “We continued to argue – not because we still wanted to go into the club but because we were not prepared to let Ben be treated that way.
“By now several other people had walked away from the club as they had seen how we were being treated and were disgusted.”
And she says she was especially angry after the incident happened during celebrations for Pride Cymru – a festival aimed at eliminating discrimination.
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Ben’s boyfriend Ross Gunter, 27, said the incident had really knocked Ben’s confidence.
He said: “We were absolutely shocked and appalled.
“He had a migraine all day on Tuesday due to stress.
“It’s hard to get him out of the house and on nights out as it is.
“But now he doesn’t want to leave the house because he’s afraid people will make judgements about him.”
A statement from the bar said: “All our staff and employees worked tirelessly to make this a great event and to share our beliefs in everyone being welcome to our venue.
“We are extremely disappointed by the reported comments made from the security company that were hired to run the door for this event and we are taking all possible actions to rectify this.”
They added that Ben and his pals had been invited back to the Chapel to “show them that we as a company have never discriminated nor ever will”.
A spokesman for the security firm said the decision to deny Ben entry was because he was believed to have been drunk as his pupils were dilated.
He said: “The main reason he was stopped was for his own safety, in case he was intoxicated.
“If we made a wrong decision then we apologise.”
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