A beggar in the UK who regularly asks locals for money has been receiving death threats after he was spotted getting into his Audi sports car.
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Matthew Brinton, 35, and his dog Hazel are well known on the streets of Cornwall where Brinton has regularly begged for money over many years.
But any goodwill towards Mr Brinton quickly evaporated when he was secretly filmed loading an Audi TT, believed to be worth nearly 100,000 (AUD), after a day spent begging.
Mr Brinton says he inherited the car from his grandmother, and it has since been stolen.
He also says that in the wake of the social media backlash to the footage of him climbing into the Audi, his donations have dried up and he is now starving.
“I have not seen any of the social media posts because I do not have access to the internet but according to the police I’ve had lots of death threats,” Mr Brinton told the Daily Mail.
“People are assuming too much and I’m getting a lot of abuse. This has been going on for years.”
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Police inspector Dave Meredith confirmed Mr Brinton has been the subject of threats, but said none of them represented an immediate risk to his safety.
“He had a few threats, with people making stupid comments on social media,” Mr Meredith said.
“We’ve told him: ‘You need to be careful because of the video on Facebook; there’s lots of ill-feeling and animosity because of it’.”
Online reaction to Mr Brinton has been furious, with some admitting they would like to drive him out of town. But he also has his supporters who say he’s just a vulnerable and lost man…
What do you think?
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