Soldiers attending funeral of Afghanistan hero banned from bar 'because of military uniform'

Solider mourning the loss of Rifleman Daniel Hume were turned away from the Phatz bar

Soldiers attending the funeral of a rifleman killed in Afghanistan were turned away from a bar because they were wearing military uniform.

The father of tragic Daniel Hume, 22, who was killed on July 9 while on foot patrol in Afghanistan's Helmand province, was among those refused entry from the Phatz bar in Maidenhead.

Hundreds of people had earlier gathered to pay tribute to Rifleman Hume.

The father, Adrian, said: 'I arrived from the cremation at 7pm and they had all been having a drink in Daniel's memory and were happy but behaving themselves.

'Later we decided to move to another venue. There were about 12 of us, with three soldiers in fatigues and a Royal Marine in his dress uniform. He looked immaculate.

'They arrived at the Phatz bar, which Daniel had been to on occasion when he was on home leave, before me.

'When I got there they appeared a bit upset.

'They said the guy on the door had told them: "You can all come in, apart from the squaddies".

'He refused to let the four who were wearing uniform into the bar - because they were wearing their uniform.'

Mr Hume said that sadly, the servicemen had been resigned to the situation, after similar previous experiences.

'What stood out was the behaviour of the guys. The non-soldiers in the group were more upset about it but the soldiers all said: "Don't worry about it - we get this all the time".

'I just feel for the guys, the pride of them dealing with it with such dignity.'

The bar manager, who remembered seeing the uniformed servicemen, admitted turning them away.

After the initial shock the group went to Noctors, a pub across the road.

Mr Hume added: "They asked us "are you from the funeral?" and said: "Come on in".'

Billy Kiernan, bar supervisor at Noctors, said: 'Everyone in town knew about the funeral. People had been out the week before when he had died and there hadn't been any trouble.

'I'm a local and I've got friends who knew Dan, so I told his dad that it was fine as long as they behaved themselves.

'There weren't any problems, it was all good and they spent a lot of money.'

Grant Page, manager at Phatz, said he turned the men away because he had been told that there were 100 soldiers who had been drinking all day and would be heading for his club.

He said: 'Knowing what these guys do for our country it saddens me that I had to do what I did. It's heartbreaking but I have to protect my customers' interests.

'It's a lose-lose situation for me.'

The group was the remainder of hundreds of mourners, more than 50 of them uniformed servicemen, who had earlier gathered at All Saint's Church, in the town of Maidenhead, Berkshire, for Rifleman Hume's funeral.

The soldier had been killed while on foot patrol with 4 Rifles at Nad e-Ali, in Afghanistan's Helmand province, just weeks into his first operational tour and only months after passing out as the best cadet at his training regiment.

Members of the public had applauded spontaneously as the coffin arrived under police escort, while an honour guard of riflemen joined veterans from the Royal British Legion in paying tribute.

Civic dignitaries also attended to pay their respects to the young soldier, who had paid the ultimate price for his nation.

A spokesman for the Royal British Legion described the bar's behaviour as 'unacceptable'.

'Members of the armed forces should be proud to wear their uniforms in public and pubs and businesses should be proud to have young men and women serving for their country as their customers,' he said.

'These men had been at a funeral for a brave young man who gave his life for his country and it is a great pity that the bar thought they were not suitable customers given the sacrifice their friend had made.

'This is exactly the sort of thing the British Legion has been campaigning against when we called for a recognised Armed Forces Day, the first of which we had this year.'