I’m furious after being banned from Lidl for the way I LOOK – I’ve done nothing wrong
A TERMINALLY-ILL grandmother claims a Lidl security guard banned her from a store after mistaking her “for a druggie”.
Karen Sahiti, 55, says she was left “devastated” after the man confronted her outside the supermarket in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.
She had popped into the shop to buy beer for her son and use its toilets earlier this month.
Karen, who suffers from lung condition emphysema and brittle bone disease, said the security guard had allowed her to use the shop’s facilities but only on the basis she “come straight back to me afterwards”.
The puzzled grandmother returned as agreed, but was then told she was banned from using the shop.
The grandmother said: “He looked me up and down a few times and said: ‘Look at the state of you’. I was so confused.
“The guard and the manager banned me from the shop and I went home and told my daughter.
“When she went down to complain and get their details she recorded the security guard say he had mistaken me for a druggie. It broke my heart.”
Karen, whose weight has dropped from 13st to 6st and is receiving end of life care, said she was initially confronted as she tried to enter the store because she “looked suspicious”.
She added: “He looked me up and down again and said: ‘Look at the state of you’. I was so confused that I asked to see the manager.”
The manager arrived and said Karen could shop in the store, but only on the condition that she had to be watched at all times.
Karen left the store immediately but was left so upset at the ordeal that she sat in her car crying for 20 minutes before she was able to drive home.
Her daughter later made a complaint to the store accusing the security guard and manager of discrimination.
Karen said: “I realised by the way they were treating me that they thought I was a heroin addict and might steal something.
“Even though I was clean and tidy, it must have been because I’m so thin.
“I’m 55 years old and I’m dying. I may look ill and thin but I’m certainly not a druggie. How dare they?
“I don’t have long left, probably only months, and I certainly don’t need something like this happening.”
The family has contacted Lidl’s head office about the incident and have demanded an apology.
A spokesman for the supermarket chain has confirmed it is investigating the matter “as a priority”.
The supermarket giant also promised a statement will be issued “as soon as possible” when the investigation has been completed.