Thousands Sign Petition Demanding Cash-Burning Cambridge Student Ronald Coyne Is Expelled

The fresher burned a £20 note in front of a homeless person.
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Thousands of people have called for a Cambridge student to be kicked out of university after he was filmed burning a £20 note in front of a homeless person. 

Ronald Coyne, a law student at Pembroke College, has been slammed as “disgusting” after a video appeared to show him trying to set the banknote alight while wearing white tie and tails. 

More than 3,000 people have signed a petition demanding Britain’s best university cuts ties with the first year student.   

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Hundreds of people have called for a Cambridge Student to be expelled after a video showed him burning cash in front of a homeless person
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“Utterly disgusting behaviour should be punished,” one signatory wrote.

“[He should] not only be removed from the university, but be made to work voluntarily for 200 hours in a homeless shelter.” 

The video reportedly shows the law society member struggling to light the £20 note before it pans to the homeless person. 

Coyne says “some homeless shelter” before the footage cuts out, the youth website reports. 

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Ronald Coyne's mother has called his behaviour 'thoughtless and cruel'
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Coyne’s mother, Sandra McLaughlin, has called her son’s behaviour “thoughtless and cruel”.  

“It’s completely out of character,” she told the Daily Mail. “He did two years of volunteering at Stockbridge shelter homeless shop in Edinburgh when he was still at school. 

“He’s a quiet boy, he wasn’t a wild teenager, he was in chess club at school,” she added.  

McLaughlin told the newspaper Coyne went out “to do the homeless run” with a friend and few nights after the event, handing out food and hot drinks to people on the streets.  

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More than 3,000 people have signed the petition
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Coyne, who was communications officer at the university’s Conservative Association executive committee, has since been expelled from the group, who say he was not on his way to or from one of their events when the note burning occurred.  

A Cambridge University spokesperson said the institution was “aware” of the incident. 

“This incident has been referred to the University’s Disciplinary process,” they said.

“We cannot comment further while this process is underway.”

The incident has sparked fundraising for homeless people in Cambridge. One crowdfunding campaign for Jimmy’s Shelter has already raised £1,500.