Staff suspended as police probe video of 'dirty water' poured on homeless man

Megan White25 February 2019

British Transport Police have launched an investigation after station staff were caught on camera soaking a homeless man with dirty water in an attempt to move him on.

The footage, which was taken outside Sutton station on Sunday, shows a member of staff pouring the contents of the mop bucket onto the man as he lay on the ground.

The staff, who are wearing Southern Rail uniforms, are heard telling the man to “get up and go” and telling the woman who filmed it that he had been “causing problems”.

But the horrified passer-by said they should have called the police rather than soaking him and his belongings.

The man was soaked with dirty water outside Sutton train station

The two members of staff have since been suspended, according to Southern Rail.

The onlooker said: “I was stood outside Sutton station because it was so warm and said to my friend how it looked like the homeless man was really enjoying the weather as he was asleep.

“I’m not sure who the man with the bucket of water worked for, but he came outside and started throwing dirty water on him and pushing him with the mop.

“I thought it was so bad that I started filming and the man just kept throwing the water. The homeless man’s bag was soaked.

“The member of staff said I didn’t know what the man had been doing earlier for him to respond like that but they should have called the police if he was behaving badly, not thrown water on him.

The man was also allegedly "pushed with the mop"

“I’ve complained to Southern about it because I was so shocked at how the homeless man was being treated.”

Angie Doll, Passenger Services Director for Southern Railway, said: "We take this incident extremely seriously and have started an investigation.

"The two staff members seen in the video have been suspended. We would like to apologise to the homeless man and we are trying to make contact with him to offer help and support."

A spokesman for the British Transport Police said: “We are aware of a video posted on social media showing an incident at Sutton station.

“Officers are currently investigating the incident as a common assault and would ask anyone who witnessed what happened, or the events leading up to it, to contact them by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 489 of 24/02/1.”

Dirty water was poured on the homeless man

The video has had more than 3,500 shares on Facebook, with viewers labelling the incident “absolutely disgusting” and demanding the members of staff lose their jobs.

The woman who filmed the video added: “I don’t think he was comprehending what was happening but the staff didn’t help him, they just kept throwing the clearly dirty water on him.

“I don’t understand why they would do that, I can’t get that mind-set. The amount of water they threw on him would have meant his clothes weren’t dry by the evening and it was 1C last night.

“I don’t know what possessed them, we are all human even if we have different circumstances.

“It was particularly shocking, I’ve never seen someone treated like that and it’s an absolute disgrace.”

Andy Fulker, a director of local homeless charity Sutton Night Watch, said he was shocked and disgusted at the footage. He said the man was in regular contact with the charity.

Mr Fulker said: “I was really concerned by this, it’s disgusting that someone could do that to someone who is struggling.

“I’ve also had reports that the man was hit with a mop. I’m shocked that knowing the situation with homelessness in this country, with people dying on our streets, someone would behave like that.

“The man has clearly got issues. He has kept himself alive – how, I don’t know – but I’m appalled by this treatment of him.

“We are hoping to locate him later today.

“I’ve been working with the homeless for three years and I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Communities Secretary James Brokenshire said he would be writing to Southern Rail demanding a “full investigation” into the incident.

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