Family forced to leave hotel after row over their autistic son using his iPad at breakfast
The Ritchies were visiting the UK so Jay could get treatment at a specialist therapy centre
A SIX-year-old with severe autism was thrown out of a posh hotel after a row with the owner over using his iPad at breakfast.
Jay Ritchie, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of two, uses his tablet all the time because it helps him keep calm.
But fellow guests at the Russell Hotel have been accused of complaining about the volume of the disabled lad's iPad as he watched Donald Duck during breakfast.
The furious family-of-four say they were left without a roof over their heads and desperately seeking alternative accommodation after they were "thrown out".
But Richard Morley, owner of the Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent, claims he asked the family to leave after they made "immediate threats to refuse payment".
He has accused the family of failing to pay their £1,300 bill.
Naturally all of us at the Russell Hotel are very saddened by this event and that such misunderstanding has occurred.
Richard Morley
Mr Morley told The Sun: "I have considerable sympathy for all parents with autistic children and I can well imagine that their care can induce considerable stress on everyone involved.
"Accordingly, every effort was made to contact the family after they returned to their room in order to find a satisfactory accommodation of the issue.
"Unfortunately they refused to accept any further contact from the hotel, insisted upon leaving and contacted the media instead.
"At the time of the incident Jay's family had accumulated a £1300 bill which they have refused to pay."
The tot and his family flew over from Gibraltar so that Jay could receive treatment at a specialist therapy centre 'Starjumpz'.
Parents Katharine Hanglin and Jason Ritchie claim the hotel manager demanded they leave after Jay accidentally turned the volume up during the "mostly empty" breakfast service.
Fuming Katharine said: "I said to Jay 'put the volume down' and all of sudden this elderly man got in my face and asked him to turn it off.
"I said no, as the iPad calms him down.
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"I'm still in shock, I could not believe something like that could happen to my son."
But Richard, who has owned the hotel, set in a Victorian mansion, for 20 years, disputes the family's chain of events and denies throwing them out of the hotel.
He said: "They were playing with their iPad at a volume that was uncomfortable for guests.
"We went to ask our guests if they would turn the volume down and they were taken aback."
The hotel owner claims the "unpleasant" family caused the whole incident to spiral out of control - accusing him of racism and threatening to put their experience up on Facebook and ruin the hotel's reputation.
He suggested that using the iPad with headphones would have been fine.
He added: "I find the incident extremely regrettable, incredibly unfortunate and am sad that it should have taken place."
Jay's furious father Jason blasted the owner, calling the behaviour "disgusting" and accusing Mr Morley of having "no consideration at all".
The welder said they have never experienced anything other than kindness and understanding from people in the UK when it came to their son's condition.
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