Leeds dad 'heartbroken' after beggar stabs him in the eye with a pen in brutal attack
A Leeds dad has opened up on the brutal attack that saw a beggar stab him in the eye with a pen in order to take the little change he had on him.
Homeless man Michael McWilliams, 50, is a former industrial cleaner and labourer, who has a 25-year-old son. He lost his job in 2015. Haunted by his decisions, he doesn’t remember the specific reason why he was sacked - just that he must have been "drunk" at the time.
Michael then took to a life on the streets. Prior to that series of events, he described himself as a ‘successful man’.
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Michael said: “Someone jabbed me in the eye. I was on the street. If someone wants something, they’ll do you. He did it with a pen to get my money and whatever I had on me. He took everything I had. It was another homeless person.
“It felt terrible. Imagine sticking a needle in your eye, that’s how it felt. The eye is so delicate and for something to be popped inside it.
“I was heartbroken, of course I was. When I talk to people and look at people, the first thing they see is my blind eye.”
The cruel attack happened when Michael was sleeping rough in the streets in Glasgow, his hometown, in 2017, leaving him blind in one eye. In a bid to turn a new leaf, he came to Leeds and reconnect with family who lived in the city. He says he cleaned up his act and no longer drinks – but he’s been on the streets again for about seven months after everything fell apart.
He says losing vision in the eye has made it difficult for him to find work as it severely affects his depth perception, like judging distances and tracking moving objects. It has also affected the other eye which has had to overcompensate over time.
'It’s impossible'
Opening up on life on the streets of Leeds, in 2024, Michael says with the growth of contactless purchases, he gets ’90 percent’ less money from begging in the street as he had in the past.
Michael said: “It’s impossible. It’s all contactless these days so nobody gets any money. I could stand out all day and make a penny. I get 90 percent less. You used to make enough money to get through the day but now you struggle.”
He added: “People want to give but they just haven’t got it. They’re using phones or their cards. I think a contactless reader would be a amazing but I don’t have one. It would be cheeky to have one but it’s desperation, isn’t it? People are doing it, I’ve heard in another cities. It will come here, eventually.”
He says modern life on the streets is lonely, adding that there’s no sense of comradery amongst fellow homeless people and little trust. He says his health has continued to take a hit over the years, after developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Michael said: “I was a successful man. All it takes is one mess up to end up on the streets and once you’re on the streets, that’s it. I see so much on the streets, it’s unbelievable. Rage, rage, my friend.”
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