Woman escapes jail for urinating on war memorial

A woman branded "Britain's most disgusting person" by veterans after she was convicted of urinating on a war memorial has been given a suspended sentence.

Wendy Lewis, 32, was caught on CCTV relieving herself on the cenotaph in the town before performing a sex act on a man in public.

Lewis was sentenced at Blackpool Magistrates' Court to 15 weeks in prison suspended for a year after fleeing an earlier hearing on Friday.

At that hearing she was met by a group of veterans, wearing berets and with campaign medals on their blazers, who lined the court steps to form a "guard of dishonour". The veterans returned to court again to see the mother-of-two brought before justice.

Lewis, of Princess Street, Blackpool, faced further disgrace. The former heroin addict, who was found guilty of outraging public decency at an earlier hearing, also pleaded guilty to assaulting the female police officer who arrested her on Tuesday night.

Lewis hurled abuse at Pc Emma Halliwell and kicked her twice, striking the officer's shin and her thigh.