McDonald’s security guard filmed soaking homeless man’s sleeping bag with mop water

Footage of the incident, which occurred in London’s Victoria district last weekend, was uploaded to social media by passer by Damon Evans.

In the video, you can see the young homeless man, identified as Aaron McCarthy, become increasingly distressed as a worker mops the floor outside the restaurant leading his sleeping bag and blanket to get wet.

Mopping outside stores keeps the immediate area clean but is also thought to be a tactic to deter those who are homeless.

However, Mr McCarthy, 25, wasn’t even sitting outside the fast food outlet but instead by the windows of a building society next door. Yet the staff member continued to spread water down the footpath and told him to move further away from the take away store.

Mr McCarthy told The Sun he had slept rough since he was 18 and suffered from PTSD.

‘Bang out of order’

In the video, Mr McCarthy can be heard telling the staff member to “leave me alone,” and “get away from me” as the water encroaches on his belongings. The staff member looks to then kick the sleeping bag and blanket away so he can mop some more.

Another security guard tries to block Mr Evans from filing until he is reminded that the footpath isn’t McDonald’s property.

“That’s wrong and you know that. It’s bang out of order” Mr Evans tells the security guard as Mr McCarthy argues with the staff member mopping.

More onlookers start questioning the McDonald’s staff actions

A person who appears to be a more senior manager then arrives and asks Mr McCarthy “why are you causing trouble?”

To which Mr Evans says: “What do you mean ‘why is he causing trouble?’ (The guard has) just covered his sleeping bag with water. It’s winter. That’s outrageous.”

In a letter to McDonald’s UK, the CEO of British homeless charity Crisis asked to meet with its head Alistair Macrow.

“I’m sure you will agree that his incident was appalling.”

He urged the chain to “work together” to support staff in dealing more humanely with homeless people near its stores.

Macca’s: ‘We wholeheartedly apologise’

In a statement McDonald’s said it no longer worked with the two guards in the video.

“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 ongoing work to support homelessness charities.”

However, it’s not clear if the street mopping – even beyond the restaurant frontage – was something the guard had decided to do on his own, was on the guidance of the store manager or was an actual McDonald’s policy.

Some on social media noted that McDonald’s had failed to say if any action hand been taken against the manager.

In a post on Twitter, now known as X, Mr Evans addressed the fastfood giant: “Do you think it is acceptable for your staff to soak the sleeping bags of homeless people in the middle of winter?”

Mr McCarthy told The Sun that the episode 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.”

He said while the guard had a bank account and could get money out, “whenever he needs to,” his bank account held just 15 pence.

“I can’t buy myself a packet of Haribos. I don’t know why he thought it was acceptable,” he said. “I suffer from PTSD, and what happened to me the other night, it’s got to me.”

Mr McCarthy said the cost of hostels meant that if he left the streets he would be left with just $10 a day.