Mother claims Sports Direct worker 'told her son Santa Claus was dead'

The mother-of-three claims the worker nearly 'ruined her son's Christmas'
PA Archive/PA Images
Martin Coulter27 November 2017

A woman has claimed her son was left "really disturbed" after a Sports Direct staff member told him Santa Claus was "dead and buried".

Lucy Blake accused the retail chain of nearly "stealing Christmas" from her son after he visited its Basingstoke branch on Saturday.

The mother-of-three posted a lengthy complaint on the sports retailer's Facebook page, saying: "You couldn't make it up."

She wrote: "My 8-year-old son was in your Basingstoke store today and was told that Santa Claus is dead by one of your members of staff serving him and his dad .

The staff member allegedly said he 'knew where Santa's bones were'
Getty Images for Brooks Brothers

"My husband was horrified and quickly said 'No he’s not, you’ve got that wrong', to which the member of staff said 'Yes he is, don’t you know your history?'

"Again my husband tried to brush him off [but he carried on saying] more of the same rubbish...this time adding where father christmas’s bones were buried. You couldn’t make it up.

My son is really disturbed by this thought and the first thing he did was tell me and his sisters who are 4 and 6 what had been told to him. I expect he’ll go on to tell his school friends too dispite us trying to reassure him the man was just being silly.

Facebook

"I have already caught him looking up 'Is Santa dead?' My heart skipped a beat at the thought of what he was about to come across looking up things like that...

"Ultimately, Christmas is a time for goodwill so...we wish your worker a very merry Christmas and hope that Santa doesn't forget him on Christmas Day."

Ms Blake's comments were shared hundreds of times by other parents online.

A Sports Direct spokesman said: "We have apologised for this incident, which was clearly unacceptable, and a member of staff has been dismissed.

"We will be arranging for Santa to pay a special visit to the Blake family, to prove that he is alive and well."

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