Diabetic Woman awarded €2,000 After Concert Staff confiscated Her Lucozade

A diabetic woman received 2,261 euros after staff at a concert confiscated her fizzy drink.

Kayla Hanna, 20, attended the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert in Belfast in August 2016 at the time of the incident happened.

She said she always carries Lucozade to make sure she can quickly top up her blood sugar levels when needed.

The student with type 1 diabetes, her bottle was confiscated, when she just arrived at the Boucher Road stadium.

Despite showing them her diabetes tattoos and insulin packaging, the Eventsec Ltd staff removed the drink, insisting they had strict policies and did not allow her to bring it to the venue.

Miss Hannah said she was anxious and upset during the concert.

She said, “I stood away from the area near the stage where my friends were because I was afraid something would happen to me and I would not have the Lucozade.”

“This had never happened me at other concerts I went to.

“I really hope that, now this issue has been brought to light, it won’t happen again to me or other people who live with diabetes.”

Ms. Hannah contacted the Equality Commission, which supported her in filing a lawsuit before the Belfast County Court allegedly violated the Disability Discrimination Act.

The court ruled that there was discrimination, and Judge Gilpin stated that Eventsec was unable to make reasonable adjustments to its policy of not allowing liquids to be brought into the concert.

Mary Keisen, the senior law officer of the Northern Ireland Equality Commission, said the bill aims to ensure that people with disabilities are not denied access to services.

“In this case, the company should have made arrangements to ensure that Kayla could have accessed Lucozade during the concert if needed; for example, by directing her to its own medical center at the venue and providing her with a bottle of Lucozade,” she said.

“That would have been a simple adjustment and would have met her medical needs.

“The court has ruled that this was a breach of the law and awarded Kayla £2,000.”