Man who urinated on memorial spared jail

SHEFFIELD, England, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- A British judge sentenced a 19-year-old student to community service for urinating on a World War I memorial in Sheffield, England.

District Judge Anthony Browne told Philip Laing, 19, his "disgusting and reprehensible" act of urinating on the memorial after participating in a seven-hour drinking event involving 2,000 students at Sheffield Hallam University had "outraged and offended many," The Times of London reported Thursday.

"There you are, a young man of 19, urinating on a war memorial erected to honor the memory of so many other young men," Browne said in sentencing Laing to 250 hours of community service.

The judge also had harsh words for Carnage UK, the company that organized the event.

"Some might say that somebody (from that company) should be standing alongside you (in the dock)," he said.

The court heard Laing was remorseful and had no memory of his actions as a result of heavy drinking.

Browne said he had "never seen anyone more contrite for what has happened nor who regrets more the hurt and distress he has caused."