The parents of a disabled child, who were refused entry into Fulton’s Fine Furnishings store in Belfast because their child was in a buggy, have today won a legal battle in the County Court.

Justin Black, from Bangor, took a case of discrimination on behalf of his son Thomas under the goods, facilities and services provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) with the support of the Equality Commission.

His complaint arose from an incident in March 2005, when the family was refused access to the Boucher Road premises unless they left the child’s buggy at the entrance of the shop.

Thomas, a one-year-old with Spina Bifida, uses a specially adapted buggy, and despite Mr Black's explanation to management about his son's disability, Fulton’s still refused to make an exception to their ‘No Prams/Buggies’ policy.

The “No Prams / Buggies” written policy had stated that disabled persons and wheelchair users were welcome, however, the effect of refusing to allow the child’s buggy into the premises meant that the family could not access the premises.

The Judge issued a declaration that this was unlawful discrimination and ordered Fulton’s to pay legal costs.

Anne McKernan, Casework Director at the Equality Commission, today said: “The Commission is pleased that the Court has highlighted the right of disabled people, of all ages, in this case a one-year old child, to have the same access to shops and services as anyone else.

“Service providers must be aware that their duties under the DDA include making reasonable adjustments for people with hidden disabilities, as in the Blacks’ case.”

Justin Black, Thomas’ father said: “We were amazed that Fulton’s refused to let our son Thomas into the store in his adapted buggy even after we had explained his disability. We were disappointed that after we wrote to complain, we received a letter from Mr Fulton threatening legal action if we publicised the matter. Now the case is over we are glad that justice has been done and that they have been found guilty of discrimination. We hope that they will be more sympathetic to the needs of their customers in the future.”

He added: “We would like to thank the Equality Commission for all their hard work and support throughout this case. I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight to others who have been subject to similar discrimination that one person can make a difference, even a one year old.”

(EF/SP)