Hero PC caught suicidal man by hood as he jumped from A38 bridge

A POLICE officer has spoken of the moment he caught a suicidal man by the hood as he jumped off a bridge over the A38.

PC Richard Morris was with his partner, PC Dave Naylor, in the late evening last winter, on their way to an attempted burglary.

On the way to the scene, PC Morris and his colleague noticed a man acting strangely near a bridge on the busy carriageway.

The officers sat and watched the man before slowly approaching him. They then spotted another man on the wrong side of the railings.

PC Morris said: “They had just been out and had a few drinks but I asked the man on the right side of the railings why his friend was on the wrong side.

“Apparently, his friend had been in the military and was suffering with PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder]. It was a bit chaotic”.

The 48-year-old said he tried to speak to the man, who appeared to be in his late 20s.

He said: “In those situations, you just try to engage with them because, most of the time, it’s just a cry for help and police officers are the ones who are normally first on scene.

“You don’t know what this man Caption has gone through so you tell them ‘we’re going to get you some help’ and ‘let’s go for a coffee and talk about it’. Normally, this goes on for quite a bit.

“This time it was different. He just didn’t want to talk to me. He just said he wanted to kill himself and he had had enough.”

By this time, the officers had stopped traffic on both sides of the A38 while they tried to stop the man from jumping.

Moments later, the man on the wrong side of the railings tried to jump.

PC Morris and the man’s friend grabbed him by his hood before bringing him back on to the right side of the railings. According to the officer, the event was over in minutes. PC Morris restrained the man before he was taken to Royal Derby Hospital for a mental health assessment.

PC Morris and PC Naylor received PC PCRichardMorris Richard Morris at the police awards night n commendations for their outstanding work on that night at a Derbyshire Police awards ceremony on Tuesday.

PC Morris said: “I didn’t expect to be receiving any type of award, really. It’s what you do and I would expect every other officer to do just the same”.

■ If you need help Samaritans (116 123 or samaritans.org) operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year.