A family whose 10-month-old baby stabbed herself in the mouth with a used syringe found in Starbucks in Birmingham have been awarded more than £7,500 compensation by the American coffee giant.

Keeley Price picked up the needle from an armchair in its Bullring branch in Birmingham.

Her grandmother, Linda Shipley, then pricked herself on the hand while trying to release it from the tot’s grasp.Both then had to endure a six-month wait to find out if they were cleared of disease.

Starbucks were accused of failing to provide a duty of care, with Keeley’s mother and grandmother being awarded the payout yesterday following civil action at Birmingham County Court.

The court ordered that the coffee chain award Linda Shipley £5,500 and the tot £2,050, which she will receive on her 18 birthday.

Linda Shipley, aged 52, from Yardley, and Keeley’s mum, Kelly Shipley, took Starbucks to court after they say the chain refused to apologise for the incident in March 2006.

Representatives for Starbucks told the court the Birmingham branch in the Bullring was ‘not frequented by obvious drug users’.

A spokesman for Starbucks said: “We took this incident very seriously and did everything we could to help Mrs Shipley. Regrettably we were unable to reach agreement over liability.”