Man jailed after urinating near memorial in remembrance of policeman

A 28-year-old man pleaded guilty to a charge of outraging public decency and was sentenced to 14 days in jail, after urinating during a far-right protest next to a memorial in dedication of a policeman.

Andrew Banks was photographed on urinating near a memorial which pays respect to PC Keith Palmer, who was murdered while on duty at the Houses of Parliament during an attack in 2017.

Banks was with a group of far-right demonstrators and football fans who came to defend historical monuments on Saturday, including the Winston Churchill statue in Parliament square.

Judge Emma Arbuthnot said she accepted Banks’ explanation that he was so drunk he had no idea where he was urinating, that he did not intend to urinate next to the memorial and that he was remorseful.

"Your explanation for your behaviour is that you had drunk 16 pints that night and not been to bed," she said.

"The irony is that rather than protecting a monument you very nearly urinated on one of them. It was more luck than judgment as you had no idea what the memorial was."

Banks has been sentenced 14 days immediate imprisonment.