Offensive badges are removed from store
A CITY boutique has been forced to remove offensive Nazi swastika badges from its shelves after disgusted shoppers reported the store to police.
Mum Kelly Russell, of Bletchley, who is mixed race, complained to staff when she saw the iron-on patches on sale at Punky Fish in Midsummer Place, when she visited the store with her family on Boxing Day.
Kelly said: "I couldn't believe it when I saw the swastikas on sale.
"It was really busy and I politely asked if they could please not have the patches on display because there were mixed race and Polish people in the shop.
"The assistant said that if I did not like it I could leave. What disgusts me is that people went to war against the Nazis but you go to your local shops and find things like this on sale."
Last week police contacted the fashion store asking them to stop selling the 3 patches which come in two designs – one with a plain swastika, the other with a skull with a swastika on the side and the word 'Nazi' written underneath.
Zvi Friedman, the Jewish representative on the city's Interfaith group, said: "Given the upsurge of anti-semitism
nationally and internationally, it is not suprising there is a market for such distasteful merchandise.
"I believe most people, not just Jews, would find such items on open sale offensive. The Jewish community would like to thank the lady who brought this to the attention of the Citizen."
Meanwhile, Navrita Atwal, the director of the Milton Keynes Racial Equality Council, said she will be writing to the Punky Fish head office stating the symbol is damaging to community relations.
She said: "The Punky Fish store should have been more mindful when agreeing to sell these symbols.
"They should have refused to be associated with this product.
"Ignorance is not an excuse, especially when this subject hit the front-page headlines at an international level."
Police spokesman Anna Huggins said: "We are treating this as a racist incident. We are still looking into it although we made contact with the shop and advised them to take it off the shelves."
The manager of the shop, who would not give her name, said: "We do not sell them any more. The police spoke to me and I have nothing else to say."
richard.cooper@mkcitizen.co.uk
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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