Arcade ticket machine rips clump of girl’s hair out when she went to get receipt
A girl has been left traumatised after some of her hair was torn out by an arcade ticket machine when she bent down to pick up a receipt.
Annabelle Hall, 11, got ‘sucked in’ by the machine at Tenpin, a bowling alley in Coventry, on October 30, which pulled out her locks leaving a bald spot.
Her mum Jackie Hall, 40, from Rugby said: ‘Annabelle had just won 1,000 tickets on a ‘spinner frenzy’ arcade game.
‘It was really vicious and strong – it sucked it straight up.
‘She was crying and I rushed over, when she turned round I could see a bald spot.’
Annabelle said: ‘I was shocked and worried and in pain a lot of pain at the time. It was frightening.
‘I want others to be careful so it doesn’t happen to them.’
Jackie talked about how her daughter has coped with the ordeal following the incident.
‘She has been very brave – she’s kind of trying to not look at it,’ she said.
‘She doesn’t really want to talk about it or look at her head and doesn’t want me fiddling about with it.
‘She has been a bit quiet. But I think she just wanted to bawl her eyes out – she’s trying to be strong.’
The mum is considering taking legal action against the bowling alley.
She says staff at the venue offered her daughter a free slushie and 1,000 prize tickets.
‘That’s about enough to buy £3 worth of sweets,’ Jackie said.
‘It did feel a little bit like they were trying to sweep it under the rug.
‘If that was me I’d be mortified – especially in my line of work.’
A Tenpin spokesperson said: ‘Tenpin recognises our responsibilities to ensure a safe environment for our customers whilst creating a place to have fun.
‘The machine in question was inspected, no faults were identified and was fully compliant with the manufacturer’s specification.
‘We offered a range of complimentary experiences for the family to return and enjoy, which were declined.’
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