THE MUM of a severely disabled teenager is devastated after her daughter, who is non-verbal, was told ‘not to come back’ to an Ayr cafe.

Jean Beglan had taken her 18-year-old daughter Helen, who lives with the condition Rubinstein Taybi Syndrome, to Jordan’s opticians last Wednesday.

They were with Helen’s carer Tricia, but Helen decided she wanted a cake and entered Cafe Le Monde on Ayr’s Newmarket Street

The girl was given a cake and left but then re-entered and demanded another empire biscuit and started hitting the cake cabinet before she collapsed on the floor and refused to get up. 

Her family struggled to help her. Jean believes she was told ‘not to come back’. 

She explained: “Helen is 18 but has the mind of a two-year-old. She’s non verbal and we have to watch her 24/7.

“We were down in Ayr for her eye appointment but she wandered into a cafe because she wanted a cake. I thought to myself, what can I do?

“She’s 15.5 st and I can’t lift her up. The owner gave her a cake and she left but Helen had to go back to use the toilet and wanted another cake.

“Helen sat on the floor and started banging on the glass but she doesn’t know her own strength. 

“The owner’s wife told us not to come back. I am upset because this is my daughter and I felt like we were being treated like the scruff of the day. My daughter has special needs and requires a carer but they did not care. 

“ I feel that the way we were treated in the cafe was ridiculous. I couldn’t believe that some people could be so ignorant. 

“I was in tears and thought to myself, how can people not be more understanding? I felt like saying walk a mile in my shoes before you judge.”

On Wednesday night Jean and Tricia were trying to get Helen ready for bed but she could not move her wrist.

Jean continued: “When we got home I had to take Helen to hospital as she had broken her wrist. She had fracture, after hitting the glass cabinet, and she does not know her own strength. 

“She pulled the cast off her arm so we have had to get her a splint.”
Helen attends day care three times a week where she thrives but Jean and Tricia struggle to look after her in the community. 

Jean added: “I’ve got arthritis which makes looking after her even harder. 

“I don’t have the strength to struggle with her. 

“Helen’s behaviour is getting worse but she loves the day care centre and the one to one attention. 

“My husband took Helen to the same cafe two months ago and she recognised it and that’s why she went back. 

“But I felt they were really disrespectful in the way they treated us last week.”

Shop owner 'furious' at allegations

THE OWNER of Cafe Le Monde is ‘furious’ about the allegations being made against them.

Nino Padoric, has owned his business for eight years, in partnership with his wife, and says they treats all of his customers with respect.

Mr Paoric said: “I am furious and shaking because I have done nothing wrong. This situation could have been avoided. I am not a person who has anything against those with special needs.

“This is not the first time the girl has been in the cafe. She wanted an empire biscuit and she was screaming and banging on the cake cabinet. I was concerned for her safety as I thought she was going to break the glass.

“One of my loyal customers paid for her empire biscuit. But she was still banging on the cabinet so I gave her another biscuit as I was trying to find a solution. I didn’t know what to do but I do understand and I have a lot of respect for disabled people. These allegations are just nonsense.”

A loyal customer of Cafe Le Monde, added: “I was in the cafe with a friend. This young girl was standing at the glass cabinet and pointing at the biscuit.

"She started hitting it with her arm so I asked Nino to give her the biscuit and I paid for it. 

“I thought they had been customers but they weren’t. I went away but came back and Nino had given her another empire biscuit.

“The whole thing is just a scam. Nino absolutely does not ill treat people with special needs.”