National Health Service: Paramedics, London Ambulance Service, Trafalgar Square

NHS paramedics standby as police try to persuade an unidentified man to move away
 from high ledge in Trafalgar Square (© London Intelligence)

(© London Intelligence)

The man stands on the ledge. 

His back turned to the edge...and to the crowd around Nelson's Column.

Facing the police officer trying to persuade him not to step back, fall, or jump (Tuesday, 25 February).

The man, carrying a holdall, reportedly only speaks to police officers 90 minutes after assuming his precarious position some three metres above a Trafalgar Square pavement in central London. 

Police officers cordon off the area around the National Gallery's frontage.

Passers-by stand and watch. 
Take photos. 
Film on their mobile phones. 
Tweet.

"He'd have chosen a higher building, if he was serious about suicide," says one man.

- "Yes, he's obviously got issues," says a police officer. "Please move those children away, thank you."

Groups of young European tourists continue to 'arse' around - like this is just another piece of innocuous London street theatre.

Another recalls an attempted suicide scene featuring Mel Gibson in the film Lethal Weapon.

But this real life situation could end in serious injury, or worse.

NHS

Paramedics working for the London Ambulance Service, part of the UK's National Health Service (NHS), wait to see if police officers can successfully persuade the man to stand safely away from the edge of the high ledge.

Is his a 'cry for attention or help'? Despair or possibly, anger?

  

Paul Coleman, London Intelligence, February 2014