A DRUNK who slung poppy wreaths around the Swindon Cenotaph less than 24 hours after he was released from prison has been jailed.

Ashwani Kumar, of no fixed address, said he had no memory of the incident in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The 54-year-old homeless man pleaded guilty to outraging public decency and was sentenced to eight weeks in jail.

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Prosecuting, Ryan Seneviratne, said Kumar had downed three quarters of a bottle of vodka on Friday evening.

He could be seen in CCTV shown to Salisbury Magistrates’ Court slinging the wreaths up to 80m from the war memorial at around 4.40am on Saturday morning.

Kumar was picked up by police on Sunday after watching the football.

Interviewed by police he said he could not remember the incident. But he admitted the offence when he was shown CCTV of the night.

On Sunday, the county’s top police officer, Chief Constable Kier Pritchard, condemned the vandalism.

He tweeted: “This is a total disgrace. I laid our Wiltshire Police wreath at this Cenotaph on Sunday, November 11, alongside many war veterans to show respect to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to provide the freedoms we enjoy today. Name those involved and help us identify them.”

Robert Buckland, South Swindon MP, said of the incident: "A disgraceful act of vandalism that is an insult to the memory of all those who made the ultimate sacrifice, an insult to past and present members of our armed forces and an insult to our entire community."