Sarah Crawford and Rosalind Fitzgerald were caught in the act in Gateshead last December after attending a boozy party and charged with outraging public decency
A woman who performed a sex act on another woman in a shop doorway in front of horrified children on the school run before assaulting a police officer has avoided jail. Sarah Crawford, 40, had been boozing all night at a party when she got frisky with Rosalind Fitzgerald, 42.
Newcastle Magistrates’ Court was told the pair were seen engaging in a sex act together near the doorway of a shop at 8.40am on December 11 last year in full view of members of the public, including children.
They began fondling each other outside a shop on York Road in Birtley, Gateshead and then participated in a sex act. One shocked onlooker was so disgusted, they rang the police and the pair were arrested.
Prosecutor Paul Anderson told the court: “Essentially, both parties had been to an all-night party, drinking into the early hours. They then engaged in the conduct you have heard about outside a shop at 8.45am to the disgust of passers-by. Also, at that time of day, there would have been children going to school.”
Both women pleaded guilty to outraging public decency and Fitzgerald was given a 12-month community order and fined £120 for her involvement in the incident at a hearing in May.
Andy O’Hanlon, speaking for Crawford, requested a delay in proceedings to allow time for a pre-sentence report to be compiled. But Crawford was again in trouble with the police in June following an outburst in Durham city centre.
She assaulted a police officer after throwing items of shop stock in the street. When she was taken to a police cell, she “defecated” inside it, causing damage, Newcastle Chronicle reports.
On Friday, Crawford, of no fixed address, appeared at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court to be sentenced for outraging public decency, a public order offence, criminal damage, and assaulting a police officer. She had pleaded guilty to the offences.
She was sentenced to four months prison, suspended for 12 months. She was also given 25 rehabilitation activity days, which must be completed in six months. She was also fined and ordered to pay compensation.
Crawford previously told magistrates that she no longer wants to drink alcohol, saying: “I no longer want that life anymore”. She was said to be “embarrassed and sorry” for her offending.
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