Negotiator talks man down from bridge – M4, Slough - 06-05-2008

Negotiator talks man down from bridge - M4, Slough    

The vital role that police negotiators play in day-to-day policing was demonstrated once again yesterday (5/5) when an officer from Berkshire East helped prevent a suicidal man jumping from a motorway footbridge.

At around 1pm police received several calls from worried motorists who had spotted the man sitting on the edge of the Ditton Road footbridge, which crosses the M4 between junctions 5 and 6.

Officers from the Force's Roads Policing department and shift officers from Berkshire East quickly attended the scene and both carriageways of the motorway were closed, causing heavy congestion in the area.

A/Sgt Tristan Newsome, based at Windsor, spent more than an hour talking to the man before eventually persuading him to come down from the bridge.

The man, who is in his thirties, was not injured and has voluntarily attended hospital where he will be seeking psychiatric help.

The motorway reopened at 2.30pm.

http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/index.htm

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