A 32-year old woman who admitted having sexual intercourse inside a chapel in the centre of Belfast will be sentenced for the offence next month.
Kirsty Leigh McMaster, whose address was given as ‘no fixed abode’, appeared at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday where she pleaded guilty to committing an act outraging public decency.
Currently in custody, McMaster was charged that on May 18 last year she and a co-accused ‘committed an act of a lewd obscene and disgusting nature and outraging public decency by engaging in sexual intercourse inside St Mary Chapel’.
When asked by a court clerk how she pleaded to the charge, McMaster replied “guilty.”
Following the arraignment, Judge Philip Gilpin was addressed by McMaster’s solicitor who said his client “has been in custody for some time”.
He told the Judge: “There were obviously issues that led to Ms McMaster’s offending.
“She was homeless, essentially, at the time and there are addiction issues.”
Judge Gilpin ordered that a pre-sentence report be prepared ahead of the sentence hearing which was listed to take place on March 27.
Her co-accused - Sean Paul Russell (37) from Market Street in Downpatrick - did not attend the hearing and his arraignment has been scheduled for March 3.
Although no details of the incident emerged, a previous court hearing was told that police were called to St Mary’s Church on Chapel Lane following reports that a man and woman were having sex inside the church.
A PSNI constable told the court that after shocked onlookers contact the police, officers attended the scene - and that when arrested the man and woman launched a foul-mouthed tirade when challenged about their behaviour.
Following her arrest, McMaster said she had been extremely drunk and thought any sexual activity had occurred outside the church.
The case concluded when McMaster was remanded back into custody ahead of next month’s sentencing.