Bar throws out 'ill' teen; KINGSTANDING: Friends' anger over attitude of bouncers to crisis.

Byline: By Alison Dayani

A CRITICALLY ill teenager and her friend were kicked out a Birmingham bar by bouncers as they pleaded for an ambulance, it was claimed today.

Anxious Emma Jarrett, aged 18, said she turned to door staff at Wetherspoons Lloyds No 1, in Broad Street, for help when her cousin Laura Lawlor collapsed.

But the girls, who believe 19-year-old Laura's drink had been spiked, were told by bouncers that "it was not their problem" and threw them out into the street to fend for themselves at 2am.

A Wetherspoons spokesman has apologised and said an investigation would take place.

It was only when they found a police officer on the strip that he called paramedics, who took Laura to Good Hope Hospital's A&E.

Laura, from Kingstanding, was treated as an emergency and wired up to a drip for hours.

"I was frightened for my cousin, so I got her to lean on me and took her over to the bouncers for help," said Emma, of Castleton Road, Great Barr. "But when I asked them to call an ambulance, they just said 'it's not our problem your friend is drunk' and kicked us out.

"It was terrible and I didn't know where to turn."

"Laura looked deathly white and yet she hadn't drunk that much. We are sure her drink was spiked and hospital staff were really worried about her," added Emma, who begins training to be a nurse at Wolverhampton University in September and works at Greggs, in Great Barr.

"Anything could have happened to us when they kicked us out, and all we asked for was some help,"

Emma's mother Joanne Murphy, a medical receptionist, complained to the bar and said: "Laura was obviously ill but they refused to help."

Eddie Gershon, spokesman for Wetherspoons, said although door staff were not employed by Wetherspoons, they were under its jurisdiction. "We expect them to try and help any customers when needed," said Mr Gershon.

"It seems like a serious situation where an ambulance could have been called easily and we will take it up with staff.

"If a drink was spiked, it is something we take very seriously and hope to correct."

CAPTION(S):

WORRIED... Laura Lawlor (front) with Emma Jarrett.