Cafe forced to apologise after 'vile' joke sparks customer fury

A popular cafe has been forced to apologise after customers were left disgusted by a joke displayed outside the shop that made fun of disabled people. Photo / Facebook

A popular Melbourne cafe has been forced to apologise after customers were left disgusted by a joke displayed outside the shop that made fun of disabled people.

Seddon Deadly Sins cafe is known for writing puns and jokes on a sign outside the store and uploading them to Facebook.

But a joke they posted yesterday didn't go down very well, resulting in serious backlash and forcing the owner of the cafe to apologise, news.com.au reported.

"My girlfriend broke up with me, so I stole her wheelchair," the sign read.

"Guess who came crawling back."

People claimed the joke made fun of domestic violence and disabled people. Photo / Seddon Deadly Sins Cafe

A picture of the sign was uploaded to the cafe's Facebook page with the hashtags "#hahaha", "#seddendeadlyfunnies" and "#haveyoulaughedlately".

People were quick to call out the cafe, with many saying they should be ashamed of themselves and slamming the joke as "vile" and "pathetic".

"Any cafe that thinks jokes about abuse and violence and against disabled people is NOT a community cafe worth supporting," one person wrote.

The cafe's co-owner, Chris Gooden, initially defended the sign by saying he didn't believe in censorship and brushing it off as a "silly pun".

But as the outrage continued to grow, Mr Gooden deleted the post and issued a grovelling apology.

"Today I made the mistake of making light of something that I had not considered was a brutal reality for some people," the post read.

"Colleen Hartland shared a report with me that highlighted domestic violence against people with disabilities. I'm ashamed that it took this for me to learn about this abuse.

"I apologise for my ignorance and any offence that it has caused. Regardless of the original intent, I should have known better."