AN ALCHOLIC mother who twice urinated on a public war memorial, including on the eve of the Battle of the Somme centenary, has been convicted of outraging public decency.

Drunk Kelly Martin, 42, desecrated the monument in Grays, in April and June, as mortified members of the public, including mothers with young children, watched in horror.

Pictures of the June 30 offence caused an enormous public outcry when they were posted on social media on July 1 as the nation commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Somme offensive which cost hundreds of thousands of lives in 1916.

Martin, of Grays, who was arrested on July 2, had denied two charges of outraging public decency and one each of common assault and using abusive language against a paramedic the same day.

She was convicted of all charges late on Tuesday after a short trial at Basildon Magistrates' Court.

Her lawyer had argued that the June offence was a case of mistaken identity, while in April she had not deliberately urinated on the public symbol of the nation's tragic war dead, which still had remembrance wreaths at its base.

Chairman of the bench Stuart Cranmer told her: "These offences really resonated with the local community."

Essex Police Pc James Shelton, who arrested her after the alleged April 13 incident, told the court he was "shocked" by what he saw taking place in front of 15-20 people.

He said: "For me, the war memorial is something that we need to remember in terms of people who gave their lives for us.

"We hold them in our hearts. I was so disgusted that someone could be so deliberately offensive towards it.

"I looked around in disbelief. In particular I saw a mother that had a child in a pushchair. She was trying to shield her child's eyes from what was happening."

Eyewitness Edward Cottee told the trial he was working in a nearby office and saw Martin leave a group of street drinkers and walk to the memorial before dropping her trousers.

Giving evidence from behind a screen he said he had seen her in the area between six and 10 times previously.

He added: "I saw her squatting down and urinating. It was directed against the base of the war memorial.

"I was disgusted by it. I thought it was extremely disrespectful so I reported it to the police."