Autistic boy, 8, locked in toilet at Mcdonald’s
AN eight-year-old boy with autism was left “traumatised” after being locked in a Mcdonald’s toilet.
Matthew Vincett, from Eastwood, was locked in a disabled toilet by a member of staff at the restaurant on Nuthall Road, Bobbers Mill, according to his mum, Bonnie.
She said the restaurant’s upstairs toilets were closed on Saturday, February 17, when the family visited so she asked a member of staff to let Matthew use the disabled toilet downstairs.
After she had gone back to her other children, a member of staff locked the door of the toilet while Matthew was inside, she said. A customer heard him banging on the door and notified staff, with Matthew being trapped for three to four minutes, his mum explained.
Bonnie, who works as a nurse, said: “It’s not unusual that he takes his time to go to the toilet. He was sobbing his heart out until we left.
“He wasn’t in there for that long but he’s autistic. I was told there was a way to unlock the door from the inside but my son is eight and had never used a disabled toilet before.
“He is absolutely traumatised.” Bonnie, 46, described how Matthew is now scared to go to the toilet.
She explained: “He won’t go to the toilet at home without the door being left open and me standing at the door.
“It’s a Friday thing for us to go to Mcdonald’s but now he’s getting nightmares as well about being locked in somewhere. One of his favourite things were chips but he won’t even eat chips at home now.”
She said she was left “absolutely fuming” following the store manager’s response to the incident.
The family was offered one free meal as compensation, or a brownie. She said: “It’s not right at all, what they’ve done is appalling. Their form of compensation is an insult, especially since my son has been affected so deeply. They didn’t care, my son had just been traumatised.”
Mcdonald’s has apologised to Bonnie and Matthew in a statement, saying: “Our restaurant teams work hard to ensure every customer who enters our restaurants has a positive experience, and we’re disappointed to hear of any instances that fall short of our high standards. We’d like to apologise to the customer for their experience and understand they are now in contact with our Customer Services team to find a resolution.”