UPDATED: Outrage at Cambridge Student Who Burned £20 Note in Front of Homeless Man

UPDATED: "I'll give you some change, I've changed it into fire", said Student Ronald Coyne as he taunted rough sleeper Ryan Davies.

A first year student at Cambridge has found himself at the centre of a media uproar after footage of him burning a £20 note in front of a homeless man was shared by the Tab. Ronald Coyne, an 18 year old member of Pembroke College, was seen in a Snapchat video using a cigarette lighter to attempt to burn the banknote. He has since been expelled from the Conservative Association.

The incident took place on the 2nd February but has only recently come to light. Coyne was reportedly the communications officer of CUCA (Cambridge University Conservative Association). A spokesperson for the CUCA said: "The CUCA committee became aware of serious allegations against Ronald Coyne late last week concerning his private behaviour. "There is no room for people who behave like that in our association, any other university association, or frankly our university. "This disgusting and abhorrent behaviour occurred completely independently of CUCA and did not take place before or after any CUCA event."

Coyne had reportedly been attending a formal dinner and is seen in the photo wearing white tie attire.

Via The Tab

The university responded by saying: "The University is committed to respecting the rights and dignity of all members of our community. We expect our students to treat others with respect, courtesy and consideration at all times, and the University takes allegations of unacceptable behaviour very seriously. We do not comment on individual cases."

The story has found its way into national media, having been reported by the Mirror and Daily Mail, amongst other newspapers. Popular politics gossip blog Guido Fawkes also reported that the student is related to Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. However, Sturgeon's office has denied she even remembers meeting him.

The homeless man taunted by Coyne has since spoken out, reportedly saying:

"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 Davies says he is disgusted by what happened

Ryan Davies said he was "disgusted" by the "nasty" act. Via Daily Mail.

A petition calling for Coyne to be 'removed from the University of Cambridge' has reached 10,000 signatures in just 2 days.

The video pans round to show a homeless person, now known to be Ryan Davies who has been sleeping rough for three months.

Coyne, who attended the prestigious private school Stewart's Melville College, has a "lust for far-right politics", according to an extract from his yearbook (pictured below). According to the book, "he has got himself into many a sticky situation"