How would you feel if someone took a photo of your horse without your permission? And then won a £2,000 holiday for it?
Photobombed
This was the dilemma faced by Nicola Mitchell when she discovered her horse Betty had helped David Bellis and his three-year-old son, Jacob, win a competition with Thomson Holidays.
Admittedly David didn’t plan on the bay mare taking centre stage when he took the selfie with Jacob, while they were on a walk in Prestatyn, North Wales. Betty photobombed the snapshot, ‘grinning’ comically for the camera.
David decided to enter the photo in the Made Me Smile competition, winning a holiday worth £2,000.
‘Really annoyed’
The 31-year-one-old father has since been told by the Nicola he did not have her consent to photograph the horse.
Nicola bought Betty for her 16-year-old daughter Katelyne, who taught the horse to stick out her tongue. The mum of the three said she is “really annoyed” he won the holiday without asking if they could use the photo.
“It’s not like it’s just £100 – £2,000 is a lot of money and would go quite a long way for a family,” Nicola told Wales Online. “There should be some token of gesture as it is our horse that has really won them the holiday.”
Comments on Facebook accused David and his partner Rhian Jones of being ‘shameless’ while Nicola intends to contact Thomson Holidays to complain.
‘Not getting a penny’
According to David, his son has been really upset by the fallout.
“I don’t understand why Nicola is so annoyed about it,” he said. “I was on a public path that everyone uses to go to the local school and everyone sees the horse there.”
David offered to split the money when he first heard they had won, but when he found out it was was a holiday he said the Mitchell’s were “not getting a penny”.
Congratulations
However, Katelyne said they didn’t want half of the money as they knew it was a holiday voucher.
“It was the fact that he had entered her in a competition for his own benefit knowing that he would get money for it,” said Katelyne on her Facebook page. “Without my horse he would have never won this. We didn’t want his money at all and I congratulated him on winning the £2000.”
Thomson Holidayshaven’t yet received a formal complaint, but said they would “look into it” when they did.
But they’ve confirmed via their Facebook page today that David will get prize: “Despite questions over foal play, Mr Bellis and his family will be getting the £2000 holiday prize they won after entering our#MadeMeSmile competition. Hoof a great holiday!” they wrote.