Police response to report of a person on a bridge - North Wales Police, March 2019

At around 10.40pm on 6 March 2019, North Wales Police received a telephone call reporting that a person was on an overbridge at Bryngwran, where the A55 crossed over a minor road.

Police officers arrived at 10.42pm and found a woman sitting on the outside of the railings on the overbridge. They began to speak with her. As the woman threatened to jump if the officers got any closer to her, officers did not approach her. They remained at a distance, talking to her. One of the officers requested a police negotiator

After some minutes, the woman appeared to lose her hold on the bridge and fell to the roadway below, landing on a grassed area. She sustained a number of significant injuries.

Officers provided her with first aid until the ambulance arrived and took the woman to be treated in hospital.

Our investigators reviewed police records, body-worn video footage and obtained witness accounts from police officers who were involved in responding to the incident. They also considered relevant policies and procedures.

Evidence indicated that control room staff followed force guidance, with the call taker grading the call as requiring an immediate response. Officers were promptly dispatched, with two officers, who were close by, arriving almost immediately. Force control room staff conducted a risk assessment and intelligence checks – which showed that the woman had a history of self-harm and suicide attempts – and recorded results onto the incident log.

Evidence showed that officers had face-to-face contact with the woman for approximately seven minutes before she slipped/jumped from the overbridge. There was no evidence to suggest that the police may have caused or contributed to the woman’s serious injuries.

Based on the evidence available we found no indication that any person serving with the police may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings, or had committed a criminal offence.

We commended officers and force control room staff involved for their efforts in dealing with this very difficult situation. We also identified learning for the force in relation to documenting decision-making as regards convening post-incident procedures.

We completed our investigation in June 2019.

After reviewing our report, North Wales Police agreed.