Toy parrot tells girl, 5, to bugger off
Friday, May 1, 2009[/align]
Tara Weston went crackers when the cuddly parrot she bought for her five-year-old uttered a string of obscenities. Horrified Tara, 32, listened in disbelief as the 99p fluffy toy blurted out a barrage of vile insults when daughter Demi pulled the cord. "We chose the parrot in the toy section, so I expected it to be completely child-friendly," said Tara.
But instead of repeating: "What's yer name?" or "Polly wants a cracker", the foul-mouthed bird squawked: "I'm going to rip you head off and shit down your neck." The parrot finished its torrent of abuse by yelling "buggerr off" and "up your bum". Fuming Tara, from Holloway, north London, marched back to her nearby The 99p Store to demand bosses remove the swearing parrot from its shelves.
"I was shocked with the lack of response I received," she said. "Really, it's disgusting. "The manager told me it had been a mistake and shouldn't have been in the children's section. I insisted they give me the number for head office so I could make an official complaint." She added: "My sister went back to the shop later and the parrots still hadn't been removed. What if another child had been bought one? Five-year-olds shouldn't be hearing swear words like that." The angry mum contacted Trading Standards officials and was told several complaints had been made by parents around the country.
A spokeswoman for Islington trading standards officers said: "We will be contacting the store to suggest the item is moved into another area, as it's clearly not suitable to be on sale in the children's section." Nigel Peckham, director of The 99p Store, a nationwide chain, said the product was designed for adults and was clearly labelled as not suitable for children. "We encourage all our customers to reach us through our customer services department," he said. "I'll be very happy to deal with a complaint when it arrives."
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