There are not many of us that actually enjoy doing the dreaded supermarket shop. Having said that, how would you feel if you were banned from an entire supermarket chain and threatened with the police if you should dare to enter?
This is what has happened to one 80 year-old pensioner. He had only popped out for a packet of cigarettes at his nearest Sainsbury’s on his mobility scooter when disaster struck! He ended up bashing into a female customer after paying for his purchase and knocking her down. The paramedics were called and the unlucky lady was taken to hospital.
The poor old pensioner was pretty upset by the whole incident, but things became worse about a week later when he received a letter from Sainsbury’s . He was told that die to the ‘incident’ he would be banned from every single Sainsbury’s store in the country (about 1700 of them). He was threatened that if he did enter a store, then he would be guilty of trespass and the police would be called.
This gentleman had already apologised profusely for the accident, and the lady was not actually injured in the event; It has now knocked his confidence as well. Whereas in his younger days he had been a truck driver, plus he had never had an accident before on his scooter, he now feels like some kind of criminal!
His daughter is also angry at the decision to ban her father from the stores,, and thinks the whole thing is a ridiculous overreaction. She also wonders how they are actually going to enforce the ban. Do they have ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras for mobility scooters I wonder?!

I saw this on the front page of ‘The Telegraph’ today. You have, however, filled in more detail and given a better picture, so thank you!
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Thank you so much for your comments and the compliment! 🙂
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So ridiculous! Geez..
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I know. Talk about over the top!
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That is AWFUL!!! I hadn’t read about that… What are Sainsburys thinking??!!
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So stupid. poor chap!
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If that happened to me, they would lose, not only my business, but that of everyone in my family. You did the right thing writing about it.
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I felt really sorry for the poor old boy!
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When I first saw this I thought it was some kind of joke.
What a ridiculous, over the top, reaction! I feel very sorry for the poor old chap.
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I know, it is beyond belief really!
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Seems a bit overboard to me!
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Poor old bloke… Overkill or what!?… put the big legal elephant back in the cupboard where it belongs and use some common sense, Sainsbury’s…
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Exactly!
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That seems pretty harsh, when I read the Sainsbury’s letter at the top of your blog I was imagining the banned bloke was some sort of habitual Sainsbury’s troublemaker, actively terrorising staff and customers or maybe a flasher or something, rather than some poor sod who got into a bit of an accident. Sounds like discrimination against disabled people to me, why not offer the man some help rather than making him feel like a criminal?
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I was really shocked as well. The poor guy said he felt as if he had been caught shop-lifting or something, It is very heavy-handed of Sainsbury’s to make such a big deal of it!
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You’re right. Way over the top! I hope he has another grocery store in his area that he can use.
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Yes, it is so unfair!
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It’s all about health and safety gone mad I’m afraid Edwina. It’s bad enough the way the Supermarket have reacted, but to do this to an eighty year old man, is without any care to his wellbeing at all.
I don’t know if the press have picked up this story at all, but I think it would make headline news, especially on the local TV news. Next thing you know Sainbury’s will have posters up in their all shops with his face on it, and to end the letter ‘yours sincerely’ is ridicule to the poor man.
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They were unnecessarily heavy-handed here. At his age the shame of being banned is a huge issue for him, and he has taken to staying in a lot more. I think it did make some of the papers, and hopefully, something will be done to overturn this stupid decision. However, I do fear the damage is already done in many ways.
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Even if they do apologise to him, I would hope they do so with some kind of compensation for all the embarrassment it must have caused him.
We had a similar incident down here in Brighton, at a Sainsbury store, which made the local news headlines. The following day about 500 people protested outside the store and Sainsbury’s apologised and said they had got it very wrong.
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That is great that people came out in support to let them know they can’t get away with it. Shocking really how they treat people.
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I cannot imagine. Poor guy. Terrible accident. But then, we all have accidents.
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Yes exactly. Bless him!
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Judy E Martin
Hello, and thanks for stopping by. I am Judy, in my (very) early fifties and decided that life definitely gets more interesting as it goes on! I am a wife and a mum and have just finished University as a Registered Nurse, after having worked as an Associate Practitioner in the NHS. I am also a poet and the author of my debut book, 'Rhymes of the Times.' I love to laugh, and I love rhyming words too, so I joined the two together, and my book was born. I am currently working on another book in the series also. I am a prolific blogger and enjoy writing funny stories, anecdotes, and anything really that takes my fancy.
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