A cafe owner has been criticised after they posted on social media about morbidly obese people in mobility scooters being 'fat and probably not very useful'.
It's probably not hard to guess where you'd find Belfast Breakfast Baps and what sort of food they serve, but recently (15 March) cafe owner Mark Young used his establishment's Facebook profile to take a break from the usual posts, telling people what they could expect from the cafe, to hit out at the morbidly obese.
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He wrote: "If you’re in one of these because you’re morbidly obese please know you are not disabled you’re fat and probably not very useful.
"IT MOST DEFINITELY IS YOUR FAULT. Thyroid issues are workable and you are taking away resources from those who actually deserve not.
How about park the mobility scooter and walk fatty and maybe even eventually run."
This post drew plenty of criticism on social media, with people saying they'd 'avoid at all costs' after seeing it and branded it a way to 'ruin a business with one fb post'.
Others said that the cafe 'serves the fattiest, highest cholesterol, heart attack inducing foods', and said the post was 'sick' and 'vile'.
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"Even if you thought it why would you post it," one commenter asked, while many more said they hoped the account had been hacked.
However, in subsequent posts, the cafe owner insisted he hadn't been hacked and shared some comments from people who supported him.
According to the Metro, one of those criticising Young is the CEO of Obesity UK, Professor Paul Gately.
He said: "Fundamentally it’s incredibly discriminatory and it really feels it’s attention grabbing at the expense of people suffering from a disease.
"People living with obesity face discrimination every single day. This demonstrates the way in which some people judge people living with obesity, when for many countries across the planet obesity is identified as a disease.
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"I just don’t see that as an appropriate form of business at all."
Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's The Nolan Show, the cafe owner stood by his comments and said he was talking about 'the ones that have eaten themselves into that situation'.
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"Basically every time that anyone tries to put sense in the situation I've explained that I wasn't attacking disabled people.
"It doesn't seem to be able to go on beyond that, it clearly states that people who are overweight and using these mobility scooters are fat and not disabled. That was my opinion.
"I wasn't attacking those who are genuinely disabled and who have gained weight and they're in a mobility scooter due to that."
He said that 'the truth hurts' and claimed he had 'nothing against morbidly obese people', then declined to answer a question on whether his post had impacted his business.
LADbible has contacted Belfast Breakfast Baps for comment.
Topics: Social Media, Facebook, Health, Food And Drink, UK News
Joe Harker