People pass and pull their bairns close to them – as if you are going to grab them
They look at you as if you have the plague. It’s not nice
Life spiralled out of control for Charles Sutton when he was a teenager.
The 39-year-old said: “I have now been on the streets for so long I find it difficult to sleep with a roof over my head. I slept under a bridge last night.”
He stands in Glasgow’s Buchanan Street outside a branch of Greggs.
He said: “When I was a youngster, my mum and dad split up and things went downhill from there.
“I had a happy childhood but I went out of control in my teens.
“I have been homeless on and off since I was a teenager.
“I have had problems with drink and drugs but I am on the methadone programme and that’s helping me.”
Charles accepts that the growing number of beggars in the city centre can drive shoppers away.
He said: “I know it can be scary or off-putting to people doing their shopping.
“People pass you and pull their bairns close to them – as if you are going to reach out and try to grab their children.
“They look at you as if you have the plague or something – it’s not nice.
“But I understand people are just being careful with their children.”
Charles is originally from Doncaster in Yorkshire and came to Glasgow with a friend about nine years ago.
Charles said: “I was in a relationship with a woman but the house was in her name.
“We split up and things went wrong from there.
“My problem right now is I just can’t get a house.
“I’ve had lot of jobs in the past and I went for one recently.
“But when they find out you are homeless, people are reluctant to take a chance on you.”