Aaron McCarthy said that the incident was “disgusting”.
A video of McDonald’s London security guard went viral on the internet after he was seen mopping the ground where a homeless man was resting on his sleeping bag, leaving the bag and blankets soaked in dirty water and bleach, as per a report in the New York Post.
On Saturday night, Aaron McCarthy was seated on the pavement close to the door of a McDonald’s on Victoria Street and in front of a Nationwide bank branch when an employee of the fast food giant approached him and requested that he move. The guard then abruptly kicked Mr McCarthy’s blankets away and then used the mop to clean the sidewalk with soapy 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#londonpic.twitter.com/HX8dFPbpV7
— Damon Evans (@damocrat) December 9, 2023
Mr McCarthy spoke to the Telegraph in the aftermath and 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.” He added, “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.”
McDonald’s said that they were “shocked” and “saddened” by the incident. In a statement posted to X, they 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, including vulnerable people both in the restaurant and within the wider community.
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…
— McDonald’s UK (@McDonaldsUK) December 10, 2023
“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.”