Blackpool war memorial urine woman avoids jail - Update

A woman who urinated on a war memorial before performing a sex act on a man nearby has been given a suspended prison sentence. Wendy Lewis, 32, was jeered by veterans when she arrived for a hearing at Blackpool Magistrates' Court last week. Lewis, of Princess Street, Blackpool, was caught on CCTV relieving herself at the memorial in May.



On Wednesday, she was sentenced to a 15-week jail term, suspended for one year. Lewis had been found guilty of outraging public decency at an earlier hearing at the court. She was due to be sentenced on Friday but fled after she was met by a group of veterans who lined the court steps to form a "guard of dishonour".

Veterans attended court again on Wednesday following her arrest by Lancashire Police on Tuesday night. Ahead of the sentencing hearing she also pleaded guilty to assaulting Pc Emma Halliwell, who she kicked twice during her arrest.



District Judge Roger Lowe told her: "You have got the right to do whatever you want, think whatever you want and say whatever you want. Those rights were won by people who fought for us and died for us. The memorial in this town remembers the people who gave their lives for values which we hold so dear. When you urinated on the memorial you desecrated on their memory. You brought shame on yourself and you brought shame on the town."