CCTV footage showing the moment poppy wreaths were flung from the war memorial in Swindon has been released.

The video captures around 50 wreaths to remember fallen soldiers being strewn across the ground by the town’s cenotaph in the early hours of Saturday January 12.

Ashwani Kumar, aged 54, of no fixed address, Swindon, was arrested and sentenced to eight weeks in prison after pleading guilty to outraging public decency.

Superintendent Adrian Burt said: “Kumar’s actions have quite understandably shocked our local community and caused a lot of upset, disgust and shock.

“While intoxicated, he has ripped a large number of wreaths from the cenotaph and thrown them around – a completely mindless act of vandalism, showing no respect for those servicemen and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

“We completely understand that tensions are running high as a result of this incident and we would urge people to please remember that this was the act of an individual who has now been reprimanded for his actions.”