Ear piercing Sheffield: Lovisa jewellery fails to comment over video of girl 'forced' to have ears pierced

‘Lovisa’ is at the centre of a debate over children’s consent after a distressing viral video was shared over the weekend of a scene at their Meadowhall premises.

The video appears to show a little girl being held still by two adults while a member of staff pierces her ears. The child repeatedly says “no no no” and “get off me” during the 30-second clip.

BACKGROUND: Video of child 'forced' to have ears pierced in Sheffield goes viral

But despite repeated calls to comment on the situation by the Star and severe criticism levelled from the public, Lovisa has not responded to the video.

The Star contacted the jewellery company on October 18 and 19 to ask for a response, but has received no reply.

And when this newspaper spoke to the firm's regional manager on the phone, she declined to comment and said to contact its head offices – in Australia.

It comes as the Sheffield store has received 73 one-star ratings on Google Reviews in the past 48 hours from angry parents, none of them necessarily customers.

Meanwhile, on the company’s social media, posts advertising new wares since the video was shared have inundated with scathing comments from parents.

What was in the video?

The clip, which was uploaded over the weekend by a Sheffield mum to her personal Facebook page, shows a distressing scene unfolding at Lovisa in Meadowhall.

In the video, which was filmed at the jewellery store on October 17, a little girl is shown upset at having her ears pierced.

Two adult women sitting on the floor both hold the child still and try to comfort her as a member of staff pierces her ears. Another member of staff watches on.

The girl shrieks and says “no no no” and “get off me” multiple times during the 30-second video.

Are the police involved?

South Yorkshire Police has subsequently launched an investigation into the incident to ‘understand the full circumstances’ of the clip and issued an appeal for information to help with their enquiries yesterday.

PC Craig Crew of the Meadowhall policing team, said: “We have watched this footage and understand why many viewers find it concerning. My team and I are now carrying out enquiries with the staff at the store to understand the full circumstances of what happened.”

Last night, South Yorkshire Police thanked members of the public who shared their appeal to find the owner of the video.

They have also confirmed they have identified the mother of the girl and are working to speak to her.

A statement released yesterday said: “Thank you to everybody that shared our appeal to find the owner of a video of a young girl having her ears pierced at Meadowhall. We have now traced the owner of the footage.”

SYP is asking anyone who can help with enquiries to call 101 quoting incident number 1009 of October 18 or contact the force through its online portal.

What has Meadowhall said?

A spokesperson for Meadowhall said: “Our team picked this up with Lovisa as soon as the footage was brought to our attention and we are working closely with both Lovisa and the police.”