Staff at a fast-food restaurant have been slammed as “heartless” after asking a disabled seven-year-old to leave for being too noisy.
Brooke Kirkness, who can only communicate through shouting, was taken to KFC by her step-dad and granddad on Tuesday night as a special treat while mom Stephanie, 24, was on a rare break abroad.
But the youngster from Penicuik, who suffers from Rett syndrome, is unable to speak and cannot feed herself, was asked to “stop shouting or leave” by an employee.
Brooke was part way through her favourite popcorn chicken when her family was asked to leave by staff who said there had been complaints from customers at the branch in Meadowbank Retail Park.
A spokesman for the restaurant today apologised for upsetting Brooke and her family and said staff were unaware of her disability – but charities for the neurological complaint said it would have been “obvious to anyone”.
Brooke was diagnosed with the condition two years to the day after hero dad David Kirkness, 24, was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan while on tour with the 3 Rifles in 2009.
