Travellers win pub ban discrimination case

A group of Irish travellers have been awarded £24,000 in compensation after they were banned from entering a Wetherspoon pub in north London.

The Coronet pub on Holloway Road in north London

As reported by the BBC, a group of 15, which included travellers, a police inspector, a barrister and a priest, was denied entry to The Coronet pub on Holloway road in November 2011.

The pub’s owners denied allegations of racial discrimination at a central London County Court, however eight of the claimants were successful and were awarded £3,000 each by the judge.

Judge Hand QC ruled there had been direct discrimination adding that the manager of the pub was “suffused with the stereotypical assumption that Irish Travellers and English Gypsies cause disorder wherever they go”.

The judge added: “In my judgment this is racial stereotyping of those with that ethnic origin. It can be reduced to this crude proposition: whenever Irish Travellers and English Gypsies go to public houses, violent disorder is inevitable because that is how they behave”.

Tim Martin, chairman of Wetherspoon, has since issued a statement apologising to those who were denied entry and for any upset and distress it caused.

“In the light of the judgment, although we have always been fully committed to operating our premises in a non-discriminatory way, we will undertake a full review of our relevant policies, procedures and training”, said Martin.