Girl of 4 got drunk after restaurant gave her a real cocktail
A GIRL of four became drunk when restaurant staff accidentally gave her an alcoholic cocktail instead of a child’s drink.
Evelyn Thomas began dancing at the table and acting strangely after drinking the vodka and peach schnapps cocktail at a Frankie and Benny’s restaurant.
Her parents, Mark Thomas and Kathryn Wilson, later had to take her to hospital when she fell asleep and became hard to wake.
Evelyn’s parents had ordered her a ‘Fruity Sunrise’ from the children’s menu – an alcohol-free drink of orange and apple juice with grenadine.
But staff at the American diner chain served an ‘F&B On The Beach’ cocktail – with vodka, peach schnapps, orange and cranberry juice.
By the time the waitress realised her error, Evelyn had already gulped down a third. She began acting strangely, giggling and walked into a post. Last night Mr Thomas, 33, said: ‘Evelyn was really thirsty when the drink was brought over, so she had gulped about a third, but then recoiled and said she didn’t like it.
‘The waitress came over and was really worried, she looked like she was about to cry. She told us that she had accidentally given Evelyn a real cocktail. I don’t think I believed it at first. The waitress was really apologetic.’
The systems analyst, of Newtonle-Willows, Merseyside, added: ‘I didn’t really know how to react, but I told her not to worry and that we would keep an eye on Evelyn. Then she stood up in the booth and just started dancing.
‘Four-year-olds are silly anyway, so we weren’t sure if it was the alcohol. I took her into the baby change toilets, I wanted to see if she could walk but she was swayvisited ing, she also walked into a post. She looked into the mirror, laughing at herself and telling funny jokes. It wasn’t normal for Evelyn.’
The blunder happened when Mr Thomas and his communications officer fiancee, Miss Wilson, 29, the restaurant in Warrington, Cheshire, last week.
The couple rang 111, the NHS’s non- emergency helpline, and an operator told them to take their daughter to hospital.
‘At this point we were getting quite concerned,’ Mr Thomas said. ‘Evelyn was asleep when we got to the hospital but what really scared me was that she was really hard to wake up.
‘They did tests and she couldn’t walk in a straight line. Anything serious was ruled out and we were told she was just tipsy and to keep an eye on her.
‘They said she would have a hangover. I couldn’t believe it, she was four years old and about to have her first hangover.’
After complaining to Frankie and Benny’s, Mr Thomas was offered a free meal voucher, which he said was ‘unacceptable’. He wants staff to be given better training around alcoholic drinks and for ‘mocktails’ to be served only in glasses that are clearly for children. He said the family would not be returning.
A spokesman for Frankie and Benny’s said: ‘We sincerely apologise for this unfortunate incident and any distress caused. This was genuine human error and we will do our utmost to ensure this does not happen again.’
‘Couldn’t walk in a straight line’