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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/sep/20/seven-months-in-jail-for-kelly-martin-woman-who-twice-urinated-on-war-memorial
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| Woman who twice urinated on war memorial given seven months’ jail Woman who twice urinated on war memorial given seven months’ jail | |
| (3 months later) | |
| A woman who twice urinated on a public war memorial in front of horrified onlookers has been jailed for seven months. | A woman who twice urinated on a public war memorial in front of horrified onlookers has been jailed for seven months. |
| Kelly Martin, 42, first outraged public decency when she desecrated the monument in broad daylight in Grays, Essex, in April when there were still Remembrance poppy wreaths on it. | Kelly Martin, 42, first outraged public decency when she desecrated the monument in broad daylight in Grays, Essex, in April when there were still Remembrance poppy wreaths on it. |
| She did so a second time while on bail in June, the day before the 100th anniversary of the start of the battle of the Somme, which began on 1 July 1916 and cost hundreds of thousands of lives. | She did so a second time while on bail in June, the day before the 100th anniversary of the start of the battle of the Somme, which began on 1 July 1916 and cost hundreds of thousands of lives. |
| Martin swore and shouted as she was led down to the cells at Basildon crown court on Tuesday. | Martin swore and shouted as she was led down to the cells at Basildon crown court on Tuesday. |
| Judge John Lodge, sentencing, said: “Each of these offences is so serious that only a custodial sentence is appropriate. | Judge John Lodge, sentencing, said: “Each of these offences is so serious that only a custodial sentence is appropriate. |
| “The two cases of outraging public decency involve urinating on a war memorial. Inevitably war memorials were constructed at the centre of towns and villages so on a daily basis people could be reminded of the sacrifices made by people who died. | “The two cases of outraging public decency involve urinating on a war memorial. Inevitably war memorials were constructed at the centre of towns and villages so on a daily basis people could be reminded of the sacrifices made by people who died. |
| “People use them as a place around which they congregate and that’s not wrong, but when people take that step further and abuse them by urinating on them that’s a matter the court needs to take very seriously indeed.” | “People use them as a place around which they congregate and that’s not wrong, but when people take that step further and abuse them by urinating on them that’s a matter the court needs to take very seriously indeed.” |
| Martin, of no fixed abode, was arrested on 2 July and convicted at Basildon magistrates court in August of two charges of outraging public decency and one of common assault and using abusive language against a paramedic the same day. Martin had thrown a bottle at the paramedic, the court heard. | Martin, of no fixed abode, was arrested on 2 July and convicted at Basildon magistrates court in August of two charges of outraging public decency and one of common assault and using abusive language against a paramedic the same day. Martin had thrown a bottle at the paramedic, the court heard. |
| She was sentenced to one month in prison for the first count of outraging public decency, three months for the second to run consecutively and three months for both the assault and the abusive language, to run concurrently. | She was sentenced to one month in prison for the first count of outraging public decency, three months for the second to run consecutively and three months for both the assault and the abusive language, to run concurrently. |
| Mothers with young children were among the mortified members of the public who witnessed Martin’s behaviour on 30 June, pictures of which surfaced online on 1 July, as the nation remembered the fallen. | Mothers with young children were among the mortified members of the public who witnessed Martin’s behaviour on 30 June, pictures of which surfaced online on 1 July, as the nation remembered the fallen. |
| The case had been sent to Basildon crown court for sentencing, as the district judge John Woollard told an earlier hearing at Basildon magistrates court that he did not feel it was “within my sentencing powers” to deal with the case, given a slew of aggravating features – including that Martin was drunk and had not shown remorse. | The case had been sent to Basildon crown court for sentencing, as the district judge John Woollard told an earlier hearing at Basildon magistrates court that he did not feel it was “within my sentencing powers” to deal with the case, given a slew of aggravating features – including that Martin was drunk and had not shown remorse. |
| In mitigation, the court heard that Martin had spent seven weeks in prison on remand and was now “clean”. | In mitigation, the court heard that Martin had spent seven weeks in prison on remand and was now “clean”. |