Gig staff eject disabled man they thought was drunk

A disabled man has said he was “unfairly removed” from a music event in London, after venue staff mistook his medical condition for being drunk.

Matthew Parrott, 48, from Oxford took his wife, Beth, to London to watch Glass Animals at The O2 Arena on 7 November but missed the headline act when he was removed after suffering a fall.

He told BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours programme that their evidence for him being intoxicated was that he was “stumbling when he walked”.

The O2 apologised and said it was reviewing staff training.

Mr Parrott has had lymphoma, a type of blood cancer which impacts the immune system, since 2007.

Three years ago, he had a bone marrow transplant and, as a result of this, suffers from graft-versus-host-disease. This causes neuropathy - nerve damage - in his feet, among other symptoms.

“Sometimes, I walk in an awkward way. At the concert, I tripped and couldn't regain my footing. It was an unfortunate accident,” he said.

“It wasn’t a severe injury. I felt okay, so we just wanted to go back to our seats and enjoy the show. We refused to let the fall dampen our spirits.”

Once he’d been seen by medical staff at The O2, Mr Parrott says he was met by the venue’s security manager, alongside a group of security guards.

“They refused to let me back in. They said I was intoxicated, which I wasn’t.

“I tried very much to explain that the fall wasn’t a result of drinking too much alcohol, and that it was because I have this medical condition. But we were escorted out and couldn’t see the show at all.

“I had three beers over the course of four and a half hours. We were celebrating my wife’s birthday. She had the same amount, and no one was trying to throw her out.”

A request for a reimbursement of his tickets, which cost £157.70 for the pair, was initially rejected.

"At the time, I offered to take a breathalyser test - but they refused,” said Mr Parrott.

Mr Parrott has now been contacted directly by staff from The O2. He has received a full refund for the Glass Animals show, alongside a pair of complimentary tickets and drink vouchers for an upcoming concert of his choice.

In a statement, the O2 said: “We were sorry to hear of this and our teams have been in touch with Mr Parrot [sic] directly and have reached a resolution on this case.”

It said it prided itself on being "accessible and inclusive" and had recently been recognised by disability charity, Attitude is Everything.

“In this instance, we would like to apologise to Mr Parrot [sic] for the error and emphasise that we are constantly reviewing our procedures and staff training measures to ensure that they’re up to date and fit for purpose.

"We’re committed to building on the work done by our teams so far to ensure that everyone who visits The O2 has a best-in-class experience.”

Matthew Parrott says he wants more people to speak up when they feel they have suffered injustice.

“When you come up against The O2, you feel helpless. I think it’s easy to feel resigned to just accepting that these people can steal a special night from you.

“I’m sure there are a lot of people who have similar stories to me, who haven’t had the opportunity to speak up and point out these injustices.

"It’s unfair to be treated this way because you walk slightly differently to somebody else.”

A spokesperson for the charity Attitude is Everything, which campaigns to improve accessibility at music events, said they were “concerned” to learn about Mr Parrott’s experience.

“We will be reaching out to the organisers to seek clarification about what has happened in this case.”

“We welcome feedback on experiences of live events from disabled customers via our webpage and seek to work with organisers to identify barriers and secure lasting solutions when issues do occur.”

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