Grant Cleaver admits urinating on the memorial. Photo / Supplied
A New Zealander has apologised for urinating on an Australian cenotaph - but angry Aussie diggers think he should be made to scrub clean the memorial in the town of Orange.
Grant Cleaver, 22, was fined $3000 for urinating on a war memorial in Orange, New South Wales, last Sunday
when he appeared in the Orange Local Court this week.
Cleaver is originally from Hamilton but now lives in Canberra.
Through his mother, Linda Cobbald of Hamilton, he told the Herald on Sunday he was sorry for his actions.
"He regrets the unfortunate drunken incident and apologises to those affected," she said.
Cleaver and friend Timothy Golledge were convicted of wilfully defacing a protected place.
Orange Returned Services League assistant custodian of the cenotaph Les McGaw said Cleaver and Golledge were a "bloody disgrace" and should have "the bloody book thrown at them".
He did not accept Cleaver's apology. "He wants a bloody good kick up the arse. It doesn't matter that he was drunk - he should be ashamed of himself," he said.
"In my opinion they should be made to clean it up and scrub the memorial to disinfect it. I think it's an utter disgrace and the fine should have been more to deter others," he said.
The cenotaph was inscribed with names of those who were killed in action in the World Wars, the Boer War, the Korean War and Vietnam.
National President of the RSL Rear Admiral Ken Doolan, of Canberra, said he was appalled.
"Anybody that behaves in that fashion should be condemned. We hold those places very dearly where we revere the memory of people who paid the ultimate sacrifice," he said.
Police were patrolling Lords Place at 3.30am last Sunday when they saw the two men standing next to the cenotaph.
Golledge was urinating on the war memorial when police approached him and Cleaver.
Police were told by a nearby security guard that Cleaver had also urinated on the war memorial.
He admitted urinating but was too drunk to be interviewed by police.
