Two Women Shock Public with Indecent Act in Gateshead Shop Doorway as Children Walked Past

Two women who had attended an all-night party left passers-by stunned when they engaged in an indecent act with each other outside a shop in Gateshead—while children walked by on their way to school.

Sarah Crawford, 39, and Rosalind Fitzgerald, 42, were heavily intoxicated when they were spotted behaving inappropriately in full public view outside a shop on York Road, Birtley, at 8.45am. Members of the public, including parents and schoolchildren, witnessed the disturbing scene, prompting one shocked onlooker to call the police.

Newcastle Magistrates’ Court heard that the pair had been drinking heavily through the night. Prosecutor Paul Anderson told the court the women began groping one another before engaging in an act of indecency “to the disgust of passers-by.”

Both women were arrested and charged with outraging public decency. Fitzgerald, of Beacon Lough Road in Gateshead, admitted the offence and received a 12-month community order and a £120 fine. The court heard she was already in £12,000 of court debt and was “disgusted in herself.”

Crawford, of Bardolph Road, North Shields, will return to court on July 4 for sentencing after magistrates agreed to an adjournment for a pre-sentence report.

Magistrates noted the public nature of the incident and that it occurred during the morning school run.