Family ‘mortified’ after being thrown out of Mother Goose panto for bringing their baby with them, after venue staff called security and escorted them out of the theatre
- The family passed ‘multiple’ members of staff with their baby without an issue
- John Goddard’s wife was left in tears as security escorted them out of the theatre
A family were left mortified after they were thrown out of a Mother Goose panto for bringing their six-week-old baby.
John Goddard and his family, which included his newborn baby, were escorted out of Liverpool Empire Theatre after the staff called security and left his wife in tears.
John bought his wife a £50 voucher for Valentine’s day last year. It was about to expire and so the father decided to buy tickets for the matinee performance of the Mother Goose Show as they had a newborn baby and wanted to bring him.
The family from Rainhill explained they were waved through the ticket check and passed ‘multiple’ members of staff without an issue.
The family sat down and ten minutes before the show was due to begin staff told them they had to leave.
John Goddard and his family, which included his new-born baby, were escorted out of the Mother Goose panto in Liverpool Empire Theatre after the staff called security and left his wife in tears
The family from Rainhill sat down and ten minutes before the show was due to begin staff told them they had to leave
John told The ECHO: ‘We were really looking forward to this, my wife had a really tough labour and recovery and I thought this would be a really lovely treat for her.
‘We really looked into booking the tickets and checked the terms and conditions to make sure we could take our baby along.
‘We arranged for our two-and-a-half-year-old to be looked after by my parents and I even booked a day off work.
‘There were no problems with the staff that checked our tickets, and we passed multiple people and patrons on our way in – people were even cooing over the baby.
‘We found our seats and I went to buy us some chocolate, drinks and a programme, but the second I sat back in my seat we were told no babies were allowed in the auditorium and we had to leave.’
John explained that he told staff he had checked the terms and conditions and would not be leaving the theatre.
The conditions on the AMG website read ‘babes in arms (children under 18 months) shall be admitted free of charge to those events they may attend (children’s shows and Pantomimes only)’.
Staff then called security and the family was taken into the foyer.
John said: ‘By this point my wife was mortified and in tears. Everyone was staring, whispering to each other and we were made to feel like we were the reason everybody else was not watching the show.
The baby was asleep in my wife’s sling and we even booked an aisle seat so if the baby did cry or need changing, we could leave if we needed to.
‘When we went into the foyer they closed the doors and my heart sank because I knew we were not getting back in.’
The family were given a refund and is looking to file an official complaint.
Diane Belding, Liverpool Empire’s theatre director, confirmed staff should not have removed John and his family from the audience and has issued an apology.
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