Cafe in Leigh Park told to remove dead baby figure from 'gory' Halloween display

Police have asked a cafe owner in Leigh Park to remove a dead baby mannequin from his Halloween window display after a member of the public complained. The display contained a number of mannequins, including one of a baby and one of a child, with limbs missing, covered in fake blood.

Ian Payne, owner of the Memory Lane Cafe, told the Portsmouth News, said: "The baby was cut up with blood and it did look gory. But it was just tomato sauce. More people loved it than hated it. Bad publicity is better than no publicity."

Though other local people called the display "sick" and "totally insensitive", with one saying, "Surely it would make people avoid the place rather than shop there?"

Payne removed the baby mannequin after people asked him to change the display under anti-social behaviour legislation on the grounds of taste and decency.

The display took Payne and his wife four days to set up. Payne is known for his work in the local area and his efforts to bring more visitors to the Greywell Shopping Centre. The 'gory' scene was part of a window display competition that Payne himself had organised and which will be judged on Halloween on Saturday (31 October).