Halfords apologises after man with Parkinson's disease is kicked out of store 'for walking funny'

A member of staff told Mr Cartlidge: 'I don't care what you've got'
Katrina Cartlidge
Martin Coulter12 February 2018

Halfords has apologised after a man with Parkinson's was ejected from one of its stores for "walking funny".

Chris Cartlidge, 51, was told to leave the store in Trent Vale, Stoke-on-Trent, after his leg stiffened as a result of his condition, forcing him to drag it along the floor.

He told the Standard that when he informed the member of staff who asked him to leave that he had Parkinson's, they replied: "I don't care what you've got, I want you to leave the store."

Mr Cartlidge said: "I try to be as normal as possible but it's really demeaning when people say things like that to me."

Halfords said its staff aim to be 'as helpful as possible'
PA Archive/PA Images

His daughter, Katrina said: "It's hard to see him suffering like this.

"I would never expect someone to treat my dad that way or anyone to be judged by that - by disability."

A Halfords spokesperson says: “At Halfords we are all very sorry for Mr Cartlidge’s experience and sincerely apologised to him and his family at the time for any embarrassment this misunderstanding caused.

"Our team always aim to be as sensitive and helpful as possible but on this occasion we fell short of meeting our standards.

"We are committed to improving our training and will be looking for support from Parkinson’s UK.”

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