A HOMELESS man wants a personal apology from McDonald’s after a “heartless” security guard hurled bleach water over him.
Aaron McCarthy, 25, was hunkered down outside Maccies in Victoria, London, when a bouncer asked a colleague to get a bucket and mop.
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Within seconds his bedding was soaked and he feared he wouldn’t last the bitterly cold winter night.
Recalling Saturday night’s attack from his still-sodden bedding, he told The Sun: “He’s come over, starts mopping around the floor then starts tipping water towards my blankets.
“I get up to move my sleeping bag and he deliberately kicks it into the water to get it even more wet on purpose.
“They do it on purpose to keep homeless people away but they mop this bit which isn’t even their business. They can’t be doing that.
“I couldn’t even sleep that night because my stuff was soaked.
“Some of it is still damp now. That water had bleach in it. It was cold water and it’s winter. I could’ve died.”
A viral video of the incident has racked up over 7.4 million views and the security guard can be heard telling Aaron he can’t sleep anywhere on the pavement – even outside other shops.
A manager then storms out and tells Aaron “why are you causing problems?” despite him being allowed to sleep outside the Nationwide next door.
Aaron has slept rough since he was 18 and for the past seven years has been stabbed, had bricks smashed over his head and been mugged as he slept.
Suffering from PTSD, he says life as a homeless person is a daily struggle that few people will ever understand.
He added: “It’s been f****** hard mate, f****** hard. To wake up on a concrete floor everyday? It’s not nice.
“I suffer from PTSD, and what happened to me the other night, it’s got to me.
“I’d say to him you’re a heartless human being. I don’t know why he thought it was acceptable.
“He’s got a home to go to, he’s got money in the bank, he can put his card in the cashpoint and get money whenever he needs to.
“He can put food on the table for his family. I can’t do any of that because I’ve got f*** all to my name. Not a penny.
“Do you know what my bank balance is? 15p. I can’t buy myself a packet of Haribos.”
Aaron receives £700 a month PIP and needs £18 a day to get a hostel.
He has recently had his Universal Credit slashed.
Aaron wound up on the streets through mental health issues and has struggled to get housed.
But he says he struggles with the number of empty homes in the capital while growing numbers of Brits are made homeless.
The 25-year-old said: “It is ridiculous. There are people like me and her that actually need help, it really f***s my head up.
“I want to get back into work, plastering, bricklaying, general labour. Anything on building sites.”
He will get taken in by Crisis this Christmas but be back out on the streets for an eighth year just days later.
Aaron was born in Limerick, Ireland, but was adopted as a baby and grew up in Hackney.
His mental health issues means his mum, a psychotherapist, cannot care for him.
McDonald’s say they have apologised to Aaron following the incident and the security guard has been fired.
A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “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.”
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