Family ‘mortified’ after being thrown from Mother Goose panto for taking their baby, after venue staff called security and escorted them out of theater
- The family passed ‘several’ staff with their baby without any problems
- John Goddard’s wife was left in tears as security escorted them out of the theater
A family was mortified after being kicked out of a Mother Goose pantomime show for bringing their six-week-old baby.
John Goddard and his family, including his newborn baby, were escorted from the Liverpool Empire Theater after venue staff called security, leaving his wife in tears.
Mr Goddard bought his wife a £50 voucher for Valentine’s Day last year.
It was about to end so the father decided to buy tickets to the Mother Goose Show matinee because they had a newborn baby and wanted to bring him.
The family, from Rainhill in Merseyside, explained that they were guided through ticket control and passed ‘multiple’ members of staff without any problems.
John Goddard and his family, including his newborn baby, were escorted from the Mother Goose panto at the Liverpool Empire Theater after staff called security, leaving his wife in tears
The family from Rainhill sat down and ten minutes before the show was to start, the staff told them to leave
They sat down and ten minutes before the show was to start, the staff told them to leave.
Mr. Goddard told it The echo: ‘We were really looking forward to this, my wife had a really tough delivery and recovery and I thought this would be a really nice treat for her.
“We really looked at booking the tickets and checked the conditions to make sure we could bring our baby.
‘We arranged for our two and a half year old to be taken care of by my parents and I even booked a day off.
“There were no issues with the staff checking our tickets, and we passed several people and customers on the way in — people even cooed about the baby.
“We found our seats and I went to buy us chocolates, drinks and a program, but as soon as I sat back we were told no babies were allowed in the room and we had to leave.”
Mr Goddard explained that he had told staff he had checked the terms and conditions and would not be leaving the theatre.
The terms on the AMG website read: ‘babes in arms (children under 18 months of age) have free access to the events they are allowed to attend (children’s shows and pantomimes only)’.
Staff then called security and the family was taken to the foyer.
He added, “At that point my wife was mortified and in tears. Everyone stared at each other, whispered to each other, and we got the feeling that we were the reason everyone else wasn’t watching the show.
The baby slept in my wife’s sling and we even booked an aisle seat so if the baby cried or needed changing we could leave if we needed to.
“When we entered the foyer they locked the doors and my heart sank because I knew we wouldn’t be able to get in again.”
The family received money back and wants to file an official complaint.
Diane Belding, the Liverpool Empire theater director, confirmed that the staff should not have removed the Goddards from the audience and issued an apology.
Mrs Belding said: ‘I was made aware that a member of our audience had been asked to leave ahead of yesterday’s matinee performance of Mother Goose.
“ATG’s baby-in-arms policy is that babies under 18 months are not allowed.
‘An exception is made for children’s performances and pantomimes.
Although Mother Goose is a pantomime, there is a recommended age guideline of 3 years+, which caused some confusion among the staff.
‘On this occasion we were wrong and I am very sorry that Mr Goddard was asked to leave.
“We have taken steps to ensure that the error is not repeated and I am personally contacting Mr. and Mrs. Goddard to invite them back to the realm as guests of the venue.”
