McDonald’s has apologised after footage emerged of one of its security guards soaking a homeless man’s belongings with a water from a mop bucket.
A video of the incident, which occurred on Victoria Street in London, was shared on social media on Saturday night. It shows the security guard soaking the ground where the man had been sitting with his sleeping bag outside a Nationwide bank branch, next to McDonald’s.
McDonald’s said in a statement posted to X: “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 in & around the area.”
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
In the video, the man says “leave me alone” before one security guard kicks a blanket out of the way and splashes more water along the pavement. Another security guard attempts to prevent a bystander from filming.
The person filming is heard saying: “You’re covering his sleeping bag” while he and other witnesses describe the situation as “outrageous behaviour”, calling it “disgusting” and “bang out of order”.
A man can be heard saying: “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.”
Damon Evans, who tweeted a message to McDonald’s on X, said: “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.”
