A LIMERICK man sleeping rough on the streets of London, whose bedding was soaked by a McDonald’s security guard, has led to calls for action from Westminster to “solve the rising homelessness crisis and to actively promote compassion towards those experiencing it”.
Speaking out, Limerick native, Aaron McCarthy (25), who has lived in the English captial since he was a toddler, said: “I had to leave because it was so stressful, and I hardly slept the entire night because my bedding was all soaked. You can still smell the bleach on my blanket.”
A video of the incident went viral after it was shared across social media platforms and picked up by main stream media outlets.
Mr McCarthy spoke to the Guardian newspaper, which reported how London homelessness charities criticised the “appalling” and “deeply upsetting” footage.
Aid workers expressed their shock and heartbreak at the incident, evidence of which emerged over the weekend, though some said it was not an uncommon occurrence.
“It’s incredibly sad to hear about this sort of treatment of someone forced to sleep rough – but this is not an isolated incident and is something we seem to be seeing more and more of in recent months,” said Balbir Kaur Chatrik, of the homelessness charity Centrepoint.
The footage appeared to show a security guard using a mop bucket to soak the ground where Mr McCarthy had been sitting with his sleeping bag outside a Nationwide bank branch, next to a McDonald’s, in the Victoria area of central London.
McDonald’s apologised and said the “third-party security guards involved have been permanently removed from our restaurants and the restaurant team has been reminded of the importance of treating all people with respect”.
A spokesperson for St Mungo’s, which does outreach work in the area, said: “Not only is this an upsetting video to view, this is sadly also not a unique experience for many experiencing rough sleeping.”
“Every individual experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping deserves the utmost respect, as much as any in our communities, and many of our clients report to us daily of the kind of dehumanising and awful treatment they often receive while living on the streets.”
They called for action from Westminster to “solve the rising homelessness crisis and to actively promote compassion towards those experiencing it”.
