A bridge too far...
MAN SCALED BRIDGE TWICE WHILE DRUNK TO GET BACK AT HIS EX
AN attention-seeker threw playing cards at police as he danced and took selfies on top of a busy Tyneside bridge.
Reckless Joseph Ellis scaled Scotswood Bridge twice in 12 hours, causing a massive disruption to rushhour traffic and a significant waste of resources for the emergency services.
Police, paramedics, the fire brigade and a lifeboat crew were called to the scene on both occasions and found the drunk 33-year-old to be shouting, taking selfies, dancing and shadow boxing 80ft in the air, a court heard.
As negotiators tried to speak to him, Ellis threw playing cards and his top at the officers below and refused to come down for more than an hour on the first occasion and two hours on the second.
Now, the smile has been wiped from his face after he was jailed for 22 months at Newcastle Crown Court having pleaded guilty to causing a public nuisance and breaching a previous suspended sentence.
Paul Rowland, prosecuting, said Ellis, of no fixed abode, first climbed up the bridge at around 9.20pm on August 1 this year. He told the court: “The defendant was sitting down and shouting at officers, saying he wanted a cigarette.
“At one point, he began throwing playing cards down, he took selfies of himself, he was talking on his mobile telephone and, on two occasions, he moved towards the metal superstructure of the bridge. Both lanes on the bridge were closed to traffic for the safety of himself and indeed others.”
The emergency services attended and Ellis was finally persuaded to come down at around 10.45pm. He was taken to Forth Banks Police Station but released a few hours later.
But, by 7am the following morning, less than 12 hours later, he was back up on top of the bridge.
Mr Rowland added: “He was dangling his body over the side of the bridge structure, about 80ft above the water. He began to dance around the bridge structure shouting towards members of the public and police below. He appeared agitated and had no concern for his own welfare at the time.
“That occurred when rush hour was taking place and, as a consequence of his actions, both carriageways on the bridge were closed and diversions were set up to re-route traffic on the A1 Western Bypass.”
The court was told Ellis, who again appeared drunk, refused to engage with the police, instead choosing to take off his top and throw it towards officers while shouting “f**k off”.
After two hours, the dad eventually came down and he was arrested.
Jenny Coxon, defending, said Ellis suffered with a drug problem and had climbed the bridge to get the attention of his ex-partner, who he claimed had stopped him seeing his children.
She said: “Mr Ellis has ongoing issues with drugs and he has had certain life experiences from a young age, which have clearly impacted on his coping mechanisms.”
Locking him up, Judge Edward Bindloss said: “You had deliberately chosen to do this for dramatic attention-seeking purposes in relation to your expartner. There was a level of manipulation in your behaviour for her and others. I don’t regard this as a cry for help.”