Liverpool Concert Square sex video: woman sentenced for ‘outrageous’ public sex act

A woman who shared videos on social media of herself having sex with a man in Liverpool’s busy Concert Square has been handed a suspended jail sentence.

Kelly Cousins, 35, of Merton Road in Bootle, was caught having sex in full view of revellers in the popular area of the city centre on August 1.

A video, recorded by an onlooker and later shared by Ms Cousins, went viral and prompted Mayor of Liverpool, Joanne Anderson, to express her ‘extreme shock and concern’ at the incident and online furore that followed.

Following a number of complaints, Ms Cousins was arrested and charged with outraging public decency, along with the man accused of appearing alongside her in the video, Joe Firby, 23, from Gateshead.

At Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, Ms Cousins, who had pleaded guilty to the charge at a previous hearing, was given a ten-week jail term, suspended for 12 months. She must do 40 hours of unpaid work, 20 days of a rehabilitation activity, pay £120 costs and £154 victim surcharge.

Mr Firby remains wanted by police after failing to attend his initial court hearing in Liverpool on September 20.

Andrew Page of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said: “The behaviour that took place in Concert Square that night was genuinely outrageous. Concert Square attracts a lot of tourists and the incident could well have damaged the reputation of the city in some people’s eyes.

“Whatever Ms Cousins and the man involved thought they were up to, it was not the place. The man involved in this incident was equally culpable and is being pursued by the police.

“Ms Cousins chose to further share posts of the incident on her own social media – these posts and others led to the complaints that have landed her in court.

“There are standards of public decency that every civilised society needs to maintain and the behaviour of these two people on that night was in direct contravention of those standards and, indeed, the law.”

In a statement, Ms Cousins said: “We went on a date. Things got out of hand. I deeply regret it. I now just want to make a new start and put this all behind me.