A boy with autism was spat on by a fellow hotel guest in Gran Canaria, his grandmother claims - before the man 'had sex with his girlfriend in the pool'. Mary Hughes said her grandson Aston Hawke, eight, was left traumatised following the incident last week and was too scared to leave their hotel room.
Mary, 63, claims she reported the incidents to managers at the Tabiaba Princess hotel. She says they told her the man and woman would be thrown out of the hotel, but she saw the same couple still there days later.
Mary, describing the moment she confronted the man, told the Manchester Evening News : "I said 'oi, you just spat in my grandson's face'. He just laughed. My grandson was crying and I was trying to calm him down.
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"The next thing, the lifeguard arrived and there was a big commotion. They were having sex in the kids end of the pool.
"The next night I was in the dining room and who do I bump into? It was him. This has totally ruined our holiday."
Mary, who lives with Aston and her partner Harold Johnson, said the Rochdale family spent £5,000 on the holiday, which was largely funded by her mother. She told her the money was so the trio could have a much-deserved break.
More than a week after the alleged incident - on Wednesday, August 24 - Mary is still hoping her party of seven can find a new hotel. Mary says The TUI holiday rep told them there was nowhere else available for them and there have been no seats available on flights back to Manchester.
“We have been waiting for this holiday because of Covid, so it has been planned since before then,” Mary added. “Aston is autistic and he lives with us.
“We have been looking forward to this lovely holiday. This has not just ruined Aston’s holiday but ours as well.
“It is just disgraceful what happened. The last few days have just been horrendous.”
Mary said TUI owes her family 'big time'. She said they are in conversation with their holiday rep, who is supporting them.
A spokeswoman from TUI said: “We understand the incident encountered by Ms Hughes and her grandson will have been very distressing, and we take these types of situations seriously. Following the incident, our customer care team has been in touch with the family to provide support and we are working closely with the hotel to resolve the issue.
“We’d like to reassure customers that incidents like these are rare, and we’re constantly reviewing and strengthening our processes with resort teams to ensure the comfort and safety of our customers and colleagues.”
The hotel has not replied to the M.E.N's requests for comment.
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