Man slaps Ilford rough sleeper and kicks him in back in ‘sickening’ viral video

A confused man was attacked in Ilford. Picture: Twitter (Image: Archant)

The clip, which was taken on Snapchat but then shared on Twitter shows an elderly man looking confused and exposing himself before he is confronted by a man behind a camera.

The person filming than slaps the old man in the face, and when he recoils, kicks him in the back.

Shockingly the video filmed in an underpass near Clements Road has had more than 281,000 views on Twitter alone, with 2,518 retweets and 6,459 likes.

Captain John Clifton of the Salvation Army called the video "sickening" and said he stumbled across the clip while looking for football videos on social media.

He believes the attack took place one evening over the Bank Holiday weekend.

"We at The Salvation Army were shocked to see that somebody thinks it ok to beat up an old man who is homeless," he said.

"It is even more disgusting that they think it's ok to film it and share on social media for likes and a laugh.

"This is bullying at its worst. Our team is supporting the victim, and assisting the police with their investigation." Jas Athwal, leader of Redbridge Council, said the "perpetrator" of the video needs to be brought to justice.

"Not only have they picked on a homeless person who potentially has a mental health issue but then they have gone and put it on social media," he added.

"If they had any concerns about the man they should have passed them on to the police and that is where it should have stopped.

"It is really concerning that it has been playing out online and the perpetrator needs to be brought to justice."

A Met Police spokesman confirmed they knew about the incident and were investigating the attack.

"On Wednesday, May 29, police were made aware of a video which appears to show a man being assaulted," he said.

"Inquiries are ongoing and no arrests have been made at this point."