UK’s most desperate area for the homeless at Christmas

DESPERATE victims of homelessness say a wave of abuse and humiliation at Christmas is turning Britain’s streets into a ‘boneyard’.

Last weekend, shocking footage emerged of rough sleeper Aaron McCarthy, 25, being soaked by a “heartless” security guard outside a McDonald’s in Victoria, London.

The homeless man, who has spent eight years on the streets, says the bouncer used a mop to push bleached water into his bedding to force him to move.

The clip, which has been watched nine million times, was branded “dreadful”, “appalling” and “sickening” by viewers.

But to many rough sleepers in the area, the borough of Westminster, the abuse is no surprise.

One homeless woman, who didn’t want to be named, tells us “cruel attacks” like these “happen all the time” and that people living on the streets are “treated like s***”.

She says: “Security guards pick on us and can be very rude. I once saw a man being dragged by his sleeping bag and his belongings thrown into the road.”

Danny, who got off the streets thanks to a charity, tells us: “I once saw two drunk officer workers pick up a road slab and go to hit a homeless geezer. I shouted and they stopped.

“It’s hard, a lot of people yell at you and try to start fights. Some kids poured lemonade over me while I was sleeping. It made me feel awful, I already had enough problems.

“They used to call Westminster Cathedral ‘the boneyard’ because it’s where people go there to drink themselves to death when they have given up.”

Shelter estimate there are 167,000 homeless people in London, the worst-hit area in England, which has seen an 11 per cent increase in one year alone.

Rough sleepers are 17 times more likely to be the victims of violence and more than a third have been deliberately attacked, according to the housing charity Crisis.

Among them is a homeless man named Gareth, who was last week saved from two drug-addled thugs "kicking seven bells out of him" by Tory MP David David.

The intervention, which happened yards away from Parliament on Tuesday night, was described as "a true act of heroism" by one witness.

Speaking about Gareth, Mr Davis told The Times: "He was still bleeding. It’s fortunately nothing permanent other than a few scars, I think.

“It was messy, but he’s all right. He’s still alive and that’s the important thing.”

Less than a mile away, Aaron's ordeal with a security guard went viral. McDonald’s has publicly apologised and the bouncer, from a third-party firm, has been fired.

Aaron tells us: “I was lucky not to get burned from the bleach they put in the water. I managed to get up in time but my bedding got soaked.

“I hardly slept at all that night because it was so damp. It was freezing cold and wet, because it happened during winter I could have died.”

Aaron was born in Limerick, Ireland, to a heroin-addicted mother and grew up in Hackney, London, after being adopted as a baby.

The young man, who ended up on the streets seven years ago, tells us: “My birth mother passed away when I was 18. I met her once and two months later she passed away from a heroin overdose.

“I was born addicted to heroin because of her and had to spend 10 months in hospital being treated as a baby.

“My adoptive mum was supportive and tried to help me but she can’t have me living with her. I have a lot of mental health issues.”

This isn’t the only difficulty Aaron has been subjected to since living on the streets, where he says his life is “f***ing hard enough” without additional cruelty.

He adds: “I’ve had people kick me in the head while I’ve been sleeping and I’ve had my things stolen. I've also seen people’s bedding thrown away by litter pickers. It’s so f***ing out of order.”

Other rough sleepers shared similarly harrowing stories during The Sun’s visit to Westminster, a borough that Shelter reports has 8,137 homeless people - the second-highest rate in London.
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