Review by Lucy Bennett on 17th May, 2010

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I am truly disgusted at the treatment my sister received from the 'upmarket' bar of Osbornes in purely because she has Down Syndrome. My family and I, a total of 7 people, visited the bar on Saturday 15th May to celebrate my brothers 21st birthday. Ten minutes after walking into the premises, past the doormen, and arriving at the busy bar and ordering 7 drinks, my sister was approached by one of the doormen and asked how old she was. After telling the doorman she was 19, he then - in the most unsavory manner - asked her to repeat herself, under the pretence that he could not understand her. I will point out she speaks English and not alien. When my brother and father repeated what she said, the doorman asked them to essentially back off as he was asking her. Luckily she was oblivious to the scene that was being created in her honour. He then proceeded to ask her for ID and said the manager had sent him over to ask. I can only assume due to this fact, that in the 'upmarket, cosmopolitan' establishment Osbornes claim to be, my sister was not welcome due to the fact she has a disability. Even to someone who is not the brightest tool in the box, someone with a Learning Disability does not own a vast range of identification for instance, a driving license. I will also point out the fact that she was with her mother, father and siblings would also indicate she was not underage. I can empathise with asking for ID, as I have also worked in bars and completely understand the risk of serving someone underage however, this was clearly discrimination and left some shocked onlookers. We were then asked to leave the premises which was beyond embarrassing. Hand on heart, my sister has never endured such vile treatment in all her life and it has left me feeling sick to my stomach that it happened. I could appreciate if this had happened if she was out with a group of young girls - which wouldn't happen anyway - but we are a hard-working, respectable family. We are currently awaiting response from Osbornes but as it was the manager who asked for us to be removed, I can only assume it will be them who reply. We have never come across anything like this before, I personally get ID'd on a regular basis for cigarettes and alcohol in shops but this was different and has left us somewhat uneasy. Needless to say, we will not be visiting such a pretentious, horrible establishment again

Date visited: 15/05/2010