A commuter experiencing a ‘phantom pregnancy’ hurled a torrent of abuse at a Waterloo Station toilet attendant who made her pay to use the facilities in the midst of a miscarriage panic.
Carer Florett Creary, 42, of Newenden Close, Ashford, Kent, and boyfriend Lee Nethercott, 30, of Ramsey House, Vassall Road, Brixton, pleaded guilty to using threatening words and behaviour at the station on February 19.
A joint charge of assaulting toilet attendant Miss Danuta Miszkiewicz was dropped by the prosecution when the pair appeared at City of London Magistrates’ Court.
The court heard Creary launched a foul-mouthed tirade towards the attendant as she left the ladies because Miss Miszkiewicz had lowered the entrance barrier, making the defendant pay.
Nethercott joined in the shouting and swearing in front of bustling commuters and this continued when police arrived.
“She had been drinking. She had three pints or cans that day,” explained Creary’s lawyer Mr. Quinton Newcombe. “She believed she was pregnant and had bleeding and feared a miscarriage.
“She did rush to the toilets and the attendant did put the barrier down to force payment,” added Mr. Newcombe. “An argument ensued and a second member of the public and the police got involved.
“She genuinely believed she was miscarrying and accepts she overreacted because she was upset and her behaviour after the police arrived was abhorrent.”
Medical tests before this date had confirmed Creary was pregnant, added the lawyer, but this was later dismissed by further evidence.
The mother-of-two has also attended an alcohol awareness course since the incident. “The amount of alcohol led her to behave in a way she would not normally have done,” said Mr. Newcombe.
Nethercott’s lawyer Mr. Robert Katz confirmed his client’s guilty plea put him in breach of a suspended prison sentence imposed by Inner London Crown Court and he was committed there by the JP’s for sentencing on September 21.
“He acted to prevent harm to his partner who he perceived to be under attack or suffering a miscarriage,” explained Mr. Katz. “He felt the police had not apprehended the right person and became voluble and there was waving of arms and shouting.”
Nethercott had also been drinking that day, confirmed Mr. Katz, adding his client has since attended a detox course.
The JP’s deferred sentence on Creary until March 22, next year, ordering her to keep out of trouble and produce a report from her alcohol awareness course.
The Chairman told her: “Your behaviour was appalling and must have caused unpleasantness and distress to observers at Waterloo Station.”
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