Veterans’ fury after cenotaph sex shame woman escapes jail

A DRUNKEN ladette dubbed the “most disgusting woman in Britain” for urinating and performing a sex act on a war memorial escaped a jail term last night.

Wendy Lewis was given a 15 week suspended sentence Wendy Lewis was given a 15-week suspended sentence

Wendy Lewis, 32, was given a 15-week sentence suspended for a year after a court heard she had desecrated the memory of fallen heroes.

The sentence, by Deputy District Judge Roger Lowe at Blackpool Magistrates Court, was condemned as “a slap on the wrist” by the local Royal British Legion who had mounted a “guard of dishonour” at the hearing.

Lewis, of Blackpool, was convicted in her absence of outraging public decency after fleeing the court when due for sentence last week.

She pleaded guilty yesterday to a further offence of assaulting woman police constable Emma Halliwell while being arrested on Tuesday.

Judge Lowe told her that he was sparing her immediate custody to allow probation services to help her with her drink and drug problems.

He said: “There are men and women in this court who remember the world war. The freedom to say what you want and do what you want is a freedom which was won for us. It is important that we cherish that freedom and preserve those liberties.

“The war memorial remembers the people who gave their lives to preserve the liberties we hold so dear. You desecrated the war memorial and sullied the memories of those people who died in the world wars. You have brought great shame on yourself and on this town. The public has been quite properly outraged.”

Lewis, who left court with her face hidden by a coat held by her boyfriend, was given 12 weeks in jail for outraging public decency and three weeks for the assault. Both sentences, which run consecutively, were suspended for a year. But Ian Coleman, president of the local Royal British Legion, said after the case: “We are disappointed. It seems to us like a slap on the wrist. We do not like seeing people sent to jail but we were hoping for a deterrent.

“The judge rightly said that she had sullied the memory of those who died but she got off with a similar sentence as someone who had urinated in a back alley.

“The memorial is not just for people who died 50 years ago. There are soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan on there as well. It is a living memorial.” Several veterans, including Jim Baker, 88, a survivor of the D-Day landings, were in the public gallery.

Allan Cobain, defending, said that Lewis had endured public shame and would always be known as “that woman from the cenotaph”.

“She is a tragic figure who is more to be pitied than to be pilloried. She has a huge amount of issues that she cannot cope with and she has turned to drink and drugs. But with intensive help, she can get back on track. Public outrage would demand a custodial sentence and I could not argue against. But I ask for suspension as she has already been punished to a substantial degree.

“Wherever she has gone, the finger has been pointed at her. She will always be known as that woman from the cenotaph.”

The court was told earlier that during her arrest, Lewis had kicked out at PC Halliwell, hitting her twice on the shin and the thigh.

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