Kids banned from toy shop

6:34am Thursday 22nd May 2008

Comments (12)   Have your say »

Children have been banned from a Mitcham toy shop amid because of fears they will steal and cause trouble.

Only kids accompanied by adults are being allowed past security men at Smyths Toys in Western Road, Mitcham - the Irish retail giant that opened its second UK superstore in Mitcham last July.

“I just found it incredible that you can ban children from a toy shop. I went back there and was told by three managers that they had banned kids because they’d been stealing so much stuff."

Steve Benjamin

Outraged dad-of-five, Steve Benjamin of Borough Road, confronted store managers last week after his 12-year-old step-son, Aaron Law, was stopped as he tried to buy a friend's birthday present.

Mr Benjamin said: "I just found it incredible that you can ban children from a toy shop. I went back there and was told by three managers that they had banned kids because they'd been stealing so much stuff.

"It was unbelievable. I even said to them that adults steal so were they going to ban me too?"

He added: "I can understand that something like a newsagents or sweet shop may want to stop more than three kids coming in at a time but they're treating Aaron like a criminal.

"He's never been in trouble in his life and was absolutely shocked that he can be treated like this when he's done nothing wrong. All I know is that we won't be going back there."

A manager at Smyths Toys refused to comment on the record but did confirm that some children were denied entry unaccompanied by an adult.

At the nearby Morden branch of Woolworths, staff member Chris Harvey said problems caused by young people had not been severe enough to warrant a ban.

He said: "If there's a large group of children together we might keep an eye on what they're doing, although there hasn't been any major trouble other than the occasional pack of sweets going missing."

But in January several shops in Wimbledon barred children in uniform from entering. This led to the headteacher of Wimbledon College urging parents and pupils to boycott those stores.

In a letter to all parents, Father Adrian Porter hit out at the "criminalisation" and "alienation" of his students, who were forbidden from entering Centre Court shopping centre and many local shops while in uniform.

He said: "Some boys inevitably misbehave, but when you talk to them, they say they are dealt with in a blanket way. If you happen to be 16, you are treated as a potential troublemaker."