This shocking footage shows the moment a gang of youths terrorise a homeless man with a knife before setting his possessions on fire.
The video, taken in Preston, Lancashire, shows several youngsters swearing and shouting at the man sleeping in the street before one of them produces a knife and points it at him.
The clip, which is believed to have been taken on September 8, also shows what appears to be the man’s duvet being set alight.
The video, taken in Preston, Lancashire, shows several youngsters swearing and shouting at the man sleeping in the street before one of them produces a knife and points it at him
Comedian and campaigner Robin Armstrong shared the video on his Facebook last night in an attempt to name and shame the perpetrators involved.
The video begins with a group of young people chanting and singing while jumping up and down. The clip, which was shared on Snapchat, then begins to zoom in and out on the homeless man, who is lying on the ground with a white duvet wrapped around him.
The words, ‘What you saying mate, what you saying bro,’ can be heard. The clip then shows one of the youths saying the same phrase while holding a knife, before shaking it in the direction of the older man, who looks terrified.
As the knife is being waved, one person can be heard saying: ‘What is that, what is that, in your head cuz, in your head? We don’t mess about.’
The footage then cuts to a knife being directed towards a young boy, with the person who is filming the video holding the knife. The youth can be heard saying: ‘He ain’t scared, but step away from me’
When the homeless man turns towards the camera he is met with someone saying: ‘What you looking at cuz, I’ve got a flashlight on innit.’
The footage then cuts to a knife being directed towards a young boy, with the person who is filming the video holding the knife.
The youth can be heard saying: ‘He ain’t scared, but step away from me.’
The clip then ends with the duvet going up in flames and in the distance a group of youths can be seen crowding around the homeless man.
The words: ‘We don’t f*** about it’ can also be heard.
In a separate part of the video, comedian and campaigner Robin Armstrong then appears appealing to his followers to try and hunt down the people responsible.
‘You’s have went across to him bearing a knife woke him up so you can imagine how scared he’ll be already by you’s going ‘we don’t f*** about’ before they then go behind and set it on fire.
‘Set his f****** belongings on fire, he’s got nothing in his life other than them belongings.’
The clip then ends with the duvet going up in flames and in the distance a group of youths can be seen crowding around the homeless man
Robin’s video has been watched more than 288,000 times and has been widely shared on social media.
Facebook users displayed their disgust at the footage.
Robin captioned the post: ‘Here is a group of kids approaching a homeless man in Preston (not Blackpool) while he sleeps on the ground.
‘As if his life couldn’t get any worse they decide to pull out a knife and threaten him before setting fire to his belongings while he’s still lying there! What if he burned alive!.
‘They can not get away with this.’
Chris Burley said: ‘What is needed is good old vigilante groups setting up. As police are powerless and so is the justice system. Give them a good hiding.’
Nev Henshaw commented: ‘Find them, punish them, don’t spare the rod. I hope that someone beats them in a way that they deserve.’
Nicola Fereday said: ‘Disgusting evil kids grow up to be evil adults where the hell is these kids compassion and empathy for another human being this is so scary and makes me so angry they think they are untouchable.’
A separate video shows a man knocking on the door of one of the youths who was involved. The mother answers the door and seems to confirm the time and location of the incident whilst defending him.