No joke over 5-year-old's gift choice

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Comedian Rhys Darby wasn't laughing this week after his 5-year-old son was told off by a shop owner as he chose a Christmas present.

Mr Darby's wife, Rosie, took son Finn to Ponsonby jewellers Shellshock yesterday to buy a Christmas present for his nanny.

He chose a necklace and was carrying it to the counter when he was stopped by the owner.

Mrs Darby said: "He was holding the necklace out in front of him.

"He got to the bottom of the stairs, stopped at the table and looked for the counter. It was then that a man, who clearly worked there, snatched the necklace out of his hands.

"I protested indignantly 'he is taking that to the counter to buy it'. The man replied shortly: 'we don't allow children to do that, and don't bother coming back, you're banned'.

"What made me shake with rage about this experience is that he assumed that Finn was stealing it - which insulted him, and it insulted my parenting skills."

She wrote a complaint letter to the store. Owner Merete Molving confirmed her husband had taken the necklace from Finn, but said, "Nobody thought the child was stealing anything, and the necklace wasn't snatched off him," she said.

"What occurred is that she was upstairs and my husband noticed the child running past him with a necklace in his hand. Evidently, he said to the child 'you can't have that' and took it off him."

Mrs Molving said Mrs Darby had not been banned from the store, but stood by her husband's move to take the necklace off Finn. "We don't allow children to handle our stock," she said. But there were no signs in the shop.