By Denis Sheehan FIH: McDonald’s security intentionally soaks homeless man and his sleeping bag with water.
Hi @McDonaldsUK. Do you think it is acceptable for your staff to soak the sleeping bags of homeless people in the middle of winter (or any other time of the year)? Disgusting behaviour. He wasn’t even outside your premises. @crisis_uk @Shelter #McDonalds #homelessness #london pic.twitter.com/HX8dFPbpV7
— Damon Evans (@damocrat) December 9, 2023
Most people feel compassion when they see some poor homeless soul sleeping on the street, not so for some of the employees of McDonald’s who on Saturday night chose to pour dirty water from a cleaning bucket over a homeless man, his sleeping bag, and sparse belongings.
The incident was filmed by outraged bystanders who tackled a McDonald’s security guard as it happened, despite another member of the McDonald’s team trying to block any view of what was taking place.
In a video posted on twitter (X) above, the reaction of shocked onlookers is all too evident. A man trying to defend the homeless victim can be heard clearly telling the perpetrators: “That’s wrong, you know that? You’re covering his sleeping bag, what are you doing? You’ve covered his sleeping bag in water and it’s winter. That is outrageous.” He spoke for most right minded people.
McDonald’s UK replied to the footage apologising for the distress caused, but also sought to distance themselves by saying: “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. It is not one of our employees but a third-party security guard.”
The offense took place outside a Nationwide bank branch, next to McDonald’s on Victoria Street in London. Research by Crisis, the UK national charity for people experiencing homelessness has found that people sleeping rough are frequently subject to such abuse.