Homeless man slams ‘plain nasty’ Cambridge University student who taunted him by burning £20 note under his nose
THE homeless man who was taunted by a Cambridge University student has spoken for about his "disgust" at being shown a £20 - before it was burnt in front of his eyes.
Ryan Davies, 31, is sleeping on the streets when he claimed he was teased by law student Ronald Coyne who held out the bank note before pulling it back.
Ryan, an unemployed crane operator who has been homeless for three months, thought his luck was in - until the Pembroke College student, who has distant links to SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, set the money alight.
He said: "There were some people going past and I was asking them for spare change. I'm homeless. I asked one man for spare change. I was polite about it as I always am.
"He says let's see what I've got and pulls out a £20 note and went to pass it to me."
He said: "I couldn't believe my luck. But then he pulled it back and lit it and said 'I'll give you some change, I've changed it into fire."
Ryan added: "It was absolutely disgusting.
"It was horrible. Just plain nasty.
"I suppose it's better than getting punched and kicked or even spat on because that has happened before."
It comes after Cambridge University confirmed it had launched a disciplinary investigation with thousands signing a petition calling for the young man to be expelled from the prestigious education facility.
Police have said they are not investigating the incident, saying it was not illegal to burn a note.
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Ronald's mum Sandra McLaughlin spoke out about the incident, saying she could not understand her son's behaviour.
The 46-year-old said: "We're not toffs. He's not a toff."
"It's completely out of character. He did two years of volunteering at Stockbridge shelter homeless shop in Edinburgh when he was still at school."
The student at Pembroke College has already been kicked out of the Cambridge University Conservative Association (CUCA), who slammed his behaviour as "abhorrent and repugnant" after the video was circulated on Snapchat.
But people have been left outraged by the incident with already attracting more than 1000 signatures with its calls to remove the student from Cambridge University
also echoed its calls.
Cambridge University spokesperson confirmed that the incident had been referred to the Disciplinary process.
A spokesperson told The Sun Online: ""We are aware of an incident that took place in the early hours of Thursday 2nd February 2017.
"This incident has been referred to the University’s Disciplinary process. We cannot comment further while this process is underway."
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