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Student guilty of outraging public decency
A STUDENT who sparked national outrage by urinating on Sheffield's main war memorial on a bar crawl in the city centre was today warned he could go to jail.
Philip Laing, aged 19, a sports science student at Sheffield Hallam University, appeared before Sheffield Magistrates today where he pleaded guilty to outraging public decency.
Adjourning the case for a pre-sentence report, District Judge Anthony Browne told the teenager from Rotherhead Drive, Macclesfield: "That you deeply regret what you have done, I'm absolutely sure about that.
"I've no doubt it was the vast quantity of alcohol you consumed that night that led you to behave in this way."
But he added: "The image of you urinating on the poppy wreaths on the war memorial in this city will make most people turn away in disgust, shock and sadness. It has undoubtedly distressed and upset many.
"The war memorial is a sacred and special place. The court takes a very serious view of this offence. This case will be adjourned for a report to be prepared by the probation service.
"All options, including prison, are being held open by the court."
Mr Browne said of the organised pub crawl Laing was on at the time of the offence: "Carnage is the name of the organisation who promote this type of activity. Some might say that somebody should be standing alongside you this morning."
Laing, smartly-dressed in a dark suit, shirt and tie, and wearing a poppy, sat with his head bowed for much of the hearing. His jaw visibly dropped at the mention of prison.
The court heard Laing, who has no previous convictions, was late starting the pub crawl due to rugby training so he and his friends had bought a bottle of whisky between them from a supermarket, which they "consumed before setting off".
Ian Conway, prosecuting, said the pub crawl, on Sunday October 11, was a "nationally organised drinking event".
He added: "In the city centre, the defendant was drinking pints and taking part in drinking games. He said he was 'very, very drunk, the drunkest he's ever been since he was at uni'."
The court heard Laing was spotted asleep in a shop doorway by a photographer, who then saw him urinating on the war memorial minutes later, at about 12.10am on Monday October 12, and photographed him.
The incident happened when hundreds of people were in the area, many on the pub crawl, Mr Conway said.
He added Laing first found out what he had done when he was contacted by the press office at Hallam University. He was then arrested and interviewed by police, prior to being charged.
The prosecutor said: "No part of the Crown's case is that the disgusting and reprehensible act was pre-meditated or politically-motivated.
"Rather it was as a result of having consumed large quantities of alcohol. In the police interview, he fully accepted he was the person on the photographs, could not believe what he had done and was annoyed and disgusted."
Tim Hughes, defending, said: "It's difficult to articulate how embarrassed and ashamed this young chap is. He is from a decent family, had come to university to study a course he was looking forward to completing."
He added that Laing was "caught up in a culture of drinking and drinking far too much".
"He has faced considerable public reprobation as a result of this, which has caused him to suffer far greater personal anguish than people charged with far more serious offences.
"He has no memory whatsoever of the night at all. This is a young man who has learnt an extremely hard lesson."
Mr Hughes revealed that Laing's grandparents fought in the war and he had done work experience with the Army while at school.
The case was adjourned for sentence in three weeks' time.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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