AN autistic schoolboy has been left traumatised after a cruel thief stole his mobile phone from him during a trip to a Greenock fast food restaurant.

Jaymi Mackie, who attends Craigmarloch School, was on a day out with his nan Sandra Boyd when a thug stole his mobile.

The 12-year-old, of Kirkwall Road, who also has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is now too distraught to leave the house after the ordeal.

His gran Sandra told the Tele: "To steal off somebody who is vulnerable is heartbreaking.

"Jaymi was coming on leaps and bounds since he started at Craigmarloch.

"But this has had a big impact on him.

"He is scared to go out now.

"He's really shaken up about it and thinks the man will come back."

Sandra, 57, said the shocking incident happened in McDonald's in Greenock on Friday afternoon at about 1pm when she was looking after Jaymi and a little girl she child-minds.

After ordering their food, a man came up and distracted them before taking Jaymi's phone.

She said: "We were sitting in McDonald's and Jaymi was eating his chicken nuggets when this guy with a newspaper came up.

"He was trying to speak but I couldn't understand what he was saying because he was speaking in a foreign language.

"Jaymi was saying 'nan he wants £1'.

"He started banging a newspaper on the table and when I didn't respond he put the newspaper on the table and started pointing to pictures.

"By this time, Jaymi was terrified.

"After about five minutes I was very concerned for the kids so I decided we would leave."

But the man suddenly left and that's when Jaymi discovered his yellow iPhone XR in a green case was missing.

She said: "We were just about to leave and Jaymi couldn't find his phone.

"The staff in McDonald's were wonderful.

"They told me to take Jaymi home and they would phone the police.

"They also phoned us later on, which was lovely.

"The police rang us on Saturday night to say they have a description of the man and they have him on CCTV.

"They've also offered Jaymi help from Victim Support."

Sandra said a member of staff also told her that the same man had also tried to get into their store room.

Jaymi's mum Lynne Smith says she is 'disgusted' that someone would steal her son's phone.

She said:"Children should be able to go to McDonald's to have something to eat without something like this happening.

"Jaymi's phone is his lifeline.

"He hardly goes out and when he does he likes to keep in touch with us with his phone."