'I'll give you some change, I've changed it into fire': Homeless man
reveals Cambridge Tory student's taunt as he snatched back £20 note
and burned it infront of him
- Video showed Ronald Coyne trying to set fire to note in front of homeless man
- Allegedly drunk student was filmed mocking man in early hours of February 2
- Homeless man in the city says he was disgusted by the student's actions
- 'Remove Ronald Coyne from Cambridge University' started last night
- His mother said she has spoken to her son and couldn't understand behaviour
- Do you know Ronald Coyne? Email rachael.burford@mailonline.co.uk
A homeless man who says he was taunted by a Cambridge University student has spoken of his 'disgust' at what happened.
Ryan
Davies, 31, says he was sleeping on the streets when he was teased by
law student Ronald Coyne, who held out the £20 before pulling it back
and saying, 'I'll give you some change, I've changed it into fire.'
Ryan,
an unemployed crane operator who has been homeless for three months,
thought his luck was in - until the Pembroke College student set the
money alight.
Ronald
Coyne (right), a first-year law student at Pembroke College, taunted a
rough sleeper with a £20 note. Ryan Davies (left) says he is disgusted
by what happened
Ronald Coyne, wearing a white bow tie
and tails, appears to attempt to burn a £20 note in front of the
homeless man in a video shared on Snapchat
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.
'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.'
Coyne, 18, a first-year law student at Pembroke College, was dressed in a bow tie and tails when he taunted the rough sleeper.
A
petition has now been set up calling for him to be expelled from the
University. There has also been calls for him to work 200 hours in a
homeless shelter.
Commenting on the
petition, Anne Baynham, from Newent, said: 'He needs to learn that you
can't treat people this way and then just go about your privileged life
with no consequences.'
Others have
suggested he must face some sort of punishment and that he 'does not
deserve the privilege of education at the Cambridge University'.
The video shows a
homeless man (pictured), believed to be Mr Davies, standing in Bridge
Street in Cambridge city centre clutching what appears to be a sleeping
bag
An online petition to have Mr Coyne expelled from Cambridge University has gained more than 700 signatures
It is believed the shocking
Snapchat video was filmed in the early hours of Thursday 2 February and was seen by hundreds of students.
In the film the student struggles to light the note while the camera pans to the homeless person.
The
Cambridge University Conservative Association named the student as
Ronald Coyne, its communications officer, and said it has now expelled
him from the group.
His mother Sandra McLaughlin, 46, said she could not understand her son's behaviour.
Speaking from their family home in Livingston, West Lothian, last night she said: 'I don't recognise that behaviour in my son.
'I don't really know why he's done something so thoughtless and cruel.'
Mr Coyne (pictured) went to the Stewart's Melville school in Edinburgh and this is an extract from his yearbook
Mr Coyne (pictured) is a first year
law student at Pembroke College and was a member of Cambridge University
Conservative Association
She
added: '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.
'It's very surprising. We're just a normal family. We're not toffs, he's not a toff.'
Mr
Coyne has taken down all of his online profiles but a fake Facebook
account has now been set up in his name. He has yet to make any public
comment about the incident.
A Cambridge
University spokesperson said: 'This incident has been referred to the
University's Disciplinary process. We cannot comment further while this
process is underway.'
The
behaviour has been likened to a rumoured act performed by Bullingdon
Club initiates at the University of Oxford where its claimed they burn
£50 notes in front of homeless people.
Do you know Ronald Coyne? Email rachael.burford@mailonline.co.uk
He was expelled from the CUCA after
video of the prank was seen by hundreds of students when it was shared
on Snapchat. The incident has also been referred to the University's
Disciplinary process
NWN: This is a trend by the kids of the super rich and has been going on for many years. David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Gideon Osborne all did this when members of the Bullingdon club at Oxford University. They were doing this 'jolly jape' with their 'chums' in the 1980's and 1990's
These rich types have an hatred for ordinary people. That is why most of them support mass immigration - 'cheap labour' you see. As they are so superior and they can look down on the plebs!