A judge hit out today at commercially-organised drinking sessions for students, as he warned a teenager that he faced jail for urinating over a war memorial.

District Judge Anthony Browne suggested that entrepreneurs from the private company Carnage UK should have been in the dock beside 19-year-old Philip Laing, who admitted the offence while hopelessly drunk.

Sheffield magistrates court heard that Laing, a sports technology student at Sheffield Hallam University, had drunk a bottle of whisky before joining a Carnage session laid on for students.

He was caught on CCTV soaking a wreath of poppies at the main war memorial in the city, which suffered from heavy bombing in the second world war, as well as sending thousands of local men to fight in both world wars.

The judge told Laing, who stood in the dock wearing a suit with a poppy: "Carnage is the name of the organisation who promote this type of activity and some might say that somebody should be standing alongside you this morning." Adjourning sentence for social inquiry reports, he said that all options were open, including jail.

The judge said that the CCTV images, later published on the Daily Mail's website, "will make most turn away in disgust, shock and sadness". But he took account of Laing's contrition and prompt guilty plea to outraging public decency.

"I have no doubt whatsoever it was the vast quantity of alcohol you consumed that night that led you to behave this way," he said. The court heard that Laing had no recollection of the incident, on 11 October, until the university authorities contacted him about the website pictures.

Ian Conway, prosecuting, said that Laing had admitted the offence immediately on arrest and told police: "I was very, very drunk, the drunkest I've ever been since I've been at university." There was no premeditation, targeting or political motive involved.

In mitigation, Laing's solicitor, Tim Hughes, said: "He was a young man caught up in a culture of drinking far too much." The first-year student's grandfather had fought in the second world war and it was "difficult to articulate just how embarrassed and ashamed this young man is".

Laing, who earlier issued a public apology, has been the subject of vitriolic criticism, including a Facebook page calling him Scum of the Earth. He was released on bail until a sentencing hearing on 26 November.

Urinator will never escape the shame

I don’t care how wasted he was, every lad of 19 should know this disgusting act shows the worst kind of disrespect to fallen soldiers. Some of the men honoured by the memorial would have been no older than him – only time and luck separated their fates.

Laing has since apologised, but I imagine that won’t be enough to placate the judge. Of course, the worst punishment is that he will live with the shame of those pictures for the rest of his life.