Apology to blind man refused service in pub (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Apology to blind man refused service in pub

10:31am Thursday 2nd July 2009

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A BLIND man was turned away from a pub because of his guide dog — prompting bosses to apologise for an ‘honest mistake’.

Ralph Nolan said he was ‘absolutely disgusted’ at being refused a table at The Dalesman in Sedbergh where intended to have a meal to celebrate his 68th birthday.

The owner of the pub ‘apologised profusely’, describing the incident as a ‘complete misunderstanding’.

He said a barman did not notice two-year-old Labrador retriever Georgie was a guide dog because he was busy serving customers. When he realised his mistake Mr Nolan had left, the owner added.

Refusing entry to people with guide dogs contravenes the Disability Discrimination Act and has resulted in private prosecutions and heavy magistrates’ court fines in the past.

Chris Dyson, a spokesman for Guide Dogs for the Blind, said: “I would advise service providers to be aware of the law and make very sure that they are not refusing entry to someone with a guide dog.

“If the owner has made a genuine mistake, we would hope that they learn from that mistake.”

Mr Nolan went to the pub with his wife, Ann, 63, on Saturday night along with Georgie.

He said he was left “insulted and embarrassed” by the episode.

Mr Nolan added: “We went in and said: ‘Table for two’. They said: ‘Not with a dog’. I pointed out that it was a guide dog and it was in a harness.”

He said he was “too upset to say anything” and went for a meal elsewhere.

“We were disgusted. Georgie is my mobility. If I can’t use him my mobility is impaired,” he added.

Mr Nolan, a retired business owner from Epsom and regular visitor to Sedbergh, was born with an eye condition and has been blind for 20 years.

He has been to the Dalesman with each of his previous four guide dogs, and said Georgie was specially trained to sit out the way under tables while in restaurants.

Dalesman owner Mike Garnett said the incident had been an honest mistake.

He said: “I apologise profusely. It’s a just a complete misunderstanding. We regularly have guide dogs in here.”

Barman Peter Szczepanski said: “I was serving customers at the time. I noticed the dog and said sorry but we didn’t accept them. A lady said it was a guide dog and that her husband was blind.

“I didn’t know what to do. It was busy and they were gone before I had time to say it was okay. I didn’t have the chance to apologise.”

The pub has offered Mr Nolan a free meal as a gesture of goodwill. Mr Nolan said he was so unhappy that he would not be taking up the offer and just wanted no-one else to experience what he did.

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