A mum of four who performed sex acts with a man in a public place and was filmed for videos shared online has avoided jail. Kelly Cousins, 35, met the man at a gym and went on a date where they drank heavily.
Just before midnight the couple began performing sex acts in public in Liverpool city centre, as witnesses laughed and filmed with their phones. A number of videos went viral on social media, including some shared by Cousins herself. Cousins admitted outraging public decency in court.
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of the man allegedly shown in the video, reports The Echo.
Andrew Page, prosecuting, said Cousins herself posted footage recorded by others on her social media pages. The footage went viral in a matter of hours, with thousands of people sharing and commenting on it.
Cousins was caught when a social worker recognised her from the footage and passed information to the police. She was arrested at her former home in Netherton. Cousins currently has no fixed address.
Her lawyer, Heather Toohey, said her client had expressed "deep regret", and had been drinking at the time of the incident. She said: "There was two people involved in this offence, but only she is here today. On social media there was 'hashtag Concert Square girl' and 'hashtag Concert Square slut', all in relation to her.
"All of this bad press in relation to this, and I hate to say it, was driven by misogyny".
Ms Toohey said "lots of hate" also came from women as well as men.. She told the court: "She has been threatened with violence, she has been trolled, she has had constant disparaging comments about her looks."
She was given a 10 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to complete 40 hours of unpaid work and 25 Rehabilitation Activity days with the Probation Service.
In a statement after the hearing, Cousins said: "We knew each other from the gym. We went on a date. Things got out of hand, this was never planned.
"I deeply regret it. I have always taken responsibility for my actions and I now just want to make a new start and put this all behind me."
