My son accidentally smashed a £3,400 Teletubby sculpture in a toy shop – and I had to pay for it

A YOUNG boy accidentally smashed a £3,400 Teletubby sculpture in a toy shop – and his dad ended up having to pay for it. The dad and his son had gone to a toy shop in Langham Place shopping mall in the Mongkok district of Hong Kong, China, on May 22 when the disaster occurred. ViralPressThe boy’s dad stumped up £3,400 for the damaged Teletubby sculpture[/caption] ViralPressThe golden Teletubby sculpture was originally 5.9ft tall[/caption] ViralPressStaff claimed the boy had kicked the sculpture[/caption] Staff were said to be furious when they found the 5.9ft golden sculpture smashed to pieces. They checked the store’s CCTV footage and the boy could be seen leaning onto the sculpture before trying to pull it back from falling over. But he was unable to save the huge decorative item and it crashed to the ground. At the time, the boy’s dad, Cheng, was on a call outside the store but turned back when he heard a loud smashing sound. Read More on Hong Kong GROUNDED Virgin Atlantic cancels all flights to Hong Kong until February INFERNO Horror blaze sweeps Hong Kong's World Trade Centre leaving 300 trapped & 13 injured Cheng said: “My son was motionless, he was just staring down at the toy. “My son was so terrified after the incident that he had to skip school. “He asked me why the sculpture looked scary.” Thinking it was his son’s mistake, Cheng agreed to pay for the sculpture. Most read in The Sun TAKE TO THE FLOOR Maisie Smith announces career move after dramatically quitting EastEnders MIRACLE MAN Gogglebox's Ellie's partner Nat seen for the first time since near-death crash HELPING HAND Sunak could make announcement TOMORROW to help Brits with soaring energy bills CHAMP V CHUMPS Moment gobby students who taunted Joshua are left quaking as he storms flat MOTHER'S LOVE I’m determined to protect my kids from seeing my darkest days, says Dame Debs SCHOOL MASSACRE Girl, 10, ‘tried to call 911’ before being shot dead with 18 classmates The shopkeeper discounted the item down from its retail price of £5,380 and only charged him the cost price of £3,400. However, Cheng said that the shop staff had initially told him that his son had kicked the sculpture but surveillance footage later showed the youngster may have been wrongly accused. Footage shows him leaning against it and knocking the Teletubby sculpture over by accident. Cheng criticised the shop’s staff for allegedly misleading him and his wife into thinking their son had kicked the sculpture. He later called for the shop to refund the money and claimed they should have protected the sculpture by labelling it as fragile. COMPENSATION ‘MUTUALLY AGREED’ The shop owners, KKPlus, said the compensation for the statue had been “mutually agreed”. In a statement they said: “The incident was dealt with immediately and completely resolved, and the payment was proposed by the owner. “This large-scale decoration is actually a prototype of the first printing. The official pre-sale price is 52,800 HKD (£5,380). “The cost of the prototype involves various expenses, including copyright and design, research and development and mould making, reinforcement, packaging, transportation and more.  “The decoration is only for viewing and has no toughness to withstand pressure. “We did not charge the family more than the cost price of the goods. “The decoration has been displayed at its current location since November last year and it did not cause any inconvenience to the customers.” The incident triggered widespread debate on social media over who was ultimately responsible for the damage. Some people accused KKPlus of ripping the dad off by falsely saying his son had kicked the statue over. Read More on The Sun IN THE BAG Flight attendant reveals 80p item for keeping bedbugs out of clothes in hotels bump profile I'm 9 months pregnant but NO-ONE can tell when I'm standing front on Others though questioned why such a valuable sculpture had not been cordoned off to prevent people from getting close to it. But there were those who said the parents should have kept a closer watch on their son. ViralPressCheng, the boy’s dad, paid £3,400 for the damage[/caption] We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun news desk? Email us at exclusive@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4104. You can WhatsApp us on 07423 720 250. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours Click here to get The Sun newspaper delivered for FREE for the next six weeks.