Toddler Served Whisky On Birthday

A TWO-year-old tot was rushed to hospital after being given WHISKY by bungling staff at a restaurant. Little Sonny Rees drank the 40 per cent proof spirit � which he thought was fruit juice - at his second birthday party in Frankie & Benny�s Swansea branch. He started pulling strange faces and wriggling in his chair - then his parents smelt the whiff of booze in his glass. Sonny was taken to A&E where he was kept under observation. The toddler was recovering at home today while the restaurant carried out an investigation into the mix-up. Sonny�s anxious mum Nina Rees, 34, said: �We went to the restaurant just after midday, and I had ordered him lime juice and water, his favourite. �The drinks arrived and I was encouraging him to take sips through a straw because he was eating salty things. �We had finished our first course when we noticed he was pulling a face as he was drinking. �I took it from him and took a sip myself.�It was whisky, I would say a double. As soon as I sipped it I had the slight burny feeling in my throat and warming in my chest. �Sonny had taken about ten sips - he was obviously intoxicated. �I immediately went into a panic and a rage - I was crying my eyes out.� Teacher Nina complained to the manageress who refused to believe her until she took a sip herself. Nina said: �The first reaction of the staff was awful. �They said it couldn�t have happened and just went and got him some water and walked off. They more or less dismissed me. �I called NHS direct who told me to take him straight to A&E.� Nina, the head of IT at a high school, later found out that a stag-do was going on in the bar and staff mixed up Sonny�s drink with a whisky and water ordered by one of the male revellers. The family even took birthday snaps of Sonny with his drink - not realising it was a drop of the hard stuff. Sonny was asleep by the time he arrived at Morriston Hospital in Swansea where staff monitored his vital signs. He was later given the all-clear by medics and allowed home. The restaurant gave the family a 50 per cent discount on their bill and called Nina and her police IT consultant husband Howell to apologise. A Frankie and Benny�s spokesman said: �The company is incredibly sorry for what happened. �It was a human error and we are putting measures in place to ensure it never happens again.�