Furious mother of girl, 11, who was left with a bald patch after an arcade ticket machine ‘ripped her hair out’, claims the family were offered ‘a free slushie’ as an apology
A schoolgirl has been left with a bald spot after her hair was pulled out by a ticket machine, her mother claims.
Annabelle Hall’s hair got stuck in a ticket slot when she bent down to pick up a receipt at Tenpin, a bowling alley in Coventry, West Midlands, in October.
The 11-year-old was left ‘traumatised’ by the freak accident, for which her mother Jackie claims the venue only offered a free slushie and 1,000 arcade tickets as an apology.
As Annabelle bent down to collect her receipt, Jackie, 40, claims the 11-year-old’s hair was ‘sucked’ into the machine, pulling out her locks in a move she described as ‘cruel and strong’.
Jackie, a hairdresser from Rugby, Warwickshire, said: ‘Annabelle had just won 1,000 tickets to a ‘spinner frenzy’ arcade game.
Annabelle Hall has been left ‘traumatised’ by the freak accident, for which the venue only offered her a free slushie and 1,000 arcade tickets as an apology
The machine ‘sucked’ and pulled out Annabelle’s locks – in one incident her mother Jackie Hall (pictured together), 40, was described as ‘cruel and strong’
“She was printing a receipt for the tickets and it fell on the floor.”
The mother added: ‘She bent down to pick it up when suddenly the slot in the machine where tickets were to be placed sucked up a large chunk of her hair and ripped it from her head.
‘It was really brutal and strong, it sucked it straight up. She cried and I ran over. When she turned around, I saw a bald spot.”
The incident, which happened around 1pm on October 30, has left Annabelle ‘extremely distressed and traumatised’, Jackie said.
Annabelle said: ‘I was shocked and worried and in a lot of pain at the time. It was scary.
The 11-year-old’s hair got stuck in a ticket slot as she bent down to collect a receipt at Tenpin, a bowling alley in Coventry, West Midlands
Jackie said: ‘She bent down to pick it up when suddenly the slot in the machine where the tickets were supposed to be put sucked up a lot of her hair and ripped it off her head.’
“I want others to be careful so it doesn’t happen to them.”
“She’s been very brave, she’s trying not to look at it,” her mother said.
‘She doesn’t really want to talk about it, doesn’t want to look at her head and doesn’t want me to deal with it. She’s been a bit quiet. But I think she just wanted to bawl her eyes out, she’s trying to be strong.”
Jackie is now considering whether there are grounds to take legal action.
She claims the venue’s staff offered her daughter a free Slushie and 1,000 prize tags as an apology for what happened.
“That’s about enough to buy £3 worth of sweets,” said Jackie.
Jackie claims the staff on site offered her daughter a free Slushie and 1000 prize tags as an apology for what happened
‘It felt a bit like they were trying to sweep it under the carpet. If I were, I would be ashamed, especially in my field.”
A spokesperson for Tenpin said: ‘Tenpin recognizes our responsibilities to ensure a safe environment for our customers while creating a place to have fun.
‘The machine in question has been inspected, no defects were found and fully complies with the manufacturer’s specification.
“We offered a range of free experiences for the family to enjoy, but these were turned down.”