Homeless man, 25, 'hardly slept' after his sleeping bag was soaked by McDonald's security guard

11 December 2023, 15:03

By Kieran Kelly

@kellyjourno

A homeless man has revealed how he 'hardly slept' after a McDonald's security guard soaked his sleeping bag during plummeting temperatures.

The McDonald's security guard was sacked after he was filmed mopping around a homeless man's sleeping mat over the weekend.

The worker was seen kicking covers away and mopping right next to the rough sleeper, who remonstrates with him and says "leave me alone".

Speaking to The Telegraph after the incident, Aaron McCarthy, 25, originally from Limerick, Ireland, says he "wasn't causing a nuisance".

"I told them I was outside the bank, not McDonald's and so I had nothing to do with them but then one of them came out with a bucket of water with bleach in it, I could smell it," Mr McCarthy said.

"The guy started mopping the floor and kicking my stuff into the water. It was disgusting.

"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."

McDonald's has since said they were sorry and said they were "shocked and saddened" to see footage of the staff at the outlet in Victoria.

Social media users were appalled, with Damon Evans, who uploaded the footage on Saturday, posting to McDonald's on X saying: "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)?

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"Disgusting behaviour. He wasn't even outside your premises."

Another X user wrote: "What a despicable and dehumanising thing to do.

"You better provide him with new equipment, @McDonaldsUK and some monetary compensation or shame on you too."

McDonald's said in a statement: "We are shocked and saddened by this incident.

"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 including vulnerable people both in the restaurant and within the wider community.

"We would like to wholeheartedly apologise to the gentleman in the video and will work with the council to locate him and make amends, as part of our continued support for homelessness charities and organisations across London."