A Cambridge student has been expelled from Cambridge University Conservatives over allegations that he mocked a homeless man and burned a £20 note in front of him.
The burning of currency is behaviour akin to the actions of the infamous Bullingdon Club at Cambridge’s arch rival Oxford University, with the lighting of a £50 note now an initiation ceremony for the Club.
Drunk and wearing a white tie dress and tails from a night out, Ronald Coyne, from Pembroke College, was spotted on February 2nd by a stunned onlooker outside a Cotswold store on Bridge Street in Cambridge. Coyne filmed the incident himself, circulating the video on Snapchat, which was viewed by dozens of people.
A fake profile of Ronald Coyne was made on February 9th, with over a hundred comments aiming abuse, scorn and disgust at Ronald’s actions.
The university’s Conservative Association released a statement on their website, disassociating themselves from Coyne and saying “there is no room for people who behave like that in our Association”, and decided to “revoke his membership and bar him from all future events”.
They also claimed that Coyne was not attending an Association event before or after the incident, dispute his white tie attire.
Coyne was the society’s communications officer, and he is being investigated by senior Cambridge University officials, their spokeswoman stating they are “aware of an incident” but could not add a further comment whilst the proceedings were under way.
Conservative Manchester student Stephen said he “couldn’t believe a person could do something so heinous and spiteful in front of a helpless man”, adding that “men like Ronald Coyne give Conservatives a terrible name.”
