Teen in threat to jump from railway bridge - Polsloe Bridge (4/12/2008)

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Express & Echo:

Traffic chaos hit part of the city after a teenager threatened to throw himself off a bridge.  Police negotiators spent almost an hour trying to talk the 19-year-old down from Polsloe railway bridge, where he was seen hanging from railings.

The young man from Exwick, Exeter, had crossed the railings at Polsloe Bridge and was shouting and swearing at people who went near him. The alarm was raised at 8.40am yesterday.  Specialist police officers were drafted in to encourage the man down.  After about half an hour, he crossed back to the right side of the railings and was finally led down from the bridge at 9.30am.  Wearing no shirt, the man was then taken away in handcuffs by officers.

Drivers of trains on the Exeter-Exmouth branch were alerted to the incident and slowed to 5mph until the man was off the bridge.  Mavis Choong, a spokeswoman for Network Rail, said: "The trains were being signalled to run at a slower speed after being alerted to the incident. Drivers slowed to 5mph as this would give them time to stop if anything were to happen. Although trains continued to run normally once the incident was over, there may have been a knock-on effect with some delays to trains."

One train was delayed as a result of the incident. The 9.33am Barnstaple to Exmouth First Great Western train was terminated at Exeter Central.

See http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/news/Rush-hour-chaos-teenager-threatens-jump-bridge/article-525575-detail/article.html