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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Negotiator tells of jump ordeal | Negotiator tells of jump ordeal |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A police negotiator told a Derby inquest how he tried to talk a teenager down from a car park roof while onlookers goaded him to jump. | |
| Shaun Dykes, 17, from Kilburn, Derbyshire, died in a fall from the sixth-floor roof of the Westfield shopping centre in September 2008. | Shaun Dykes, 17, from Kilburn, Derbyshire, died in a fall from the sixth-floor roof of the Westfield shopping centre in September 2008. |
| Assistant deputy coroner Louise Pinder recorded a verdict of suicide. | Assistant deputy coroner Louise Pinder recorded a verdict of suicide. |
| Det Insp Barry Thacker said people yelled "jump" and "get on with it" as he tried to talk Shaun down. | Det Insp Barry Thacker said people yelled "jump" and "get on with it" as he tried to talk Shaun down. |
| He said the shouts from the crowd distracted Shaun and him on a number of occasions. | He said the shouts from the crowd distracted Shaun and him on a number of occasions. |
| The city lost its humanity for a period of time that day Divisional Commander Andy Hough | The city lost its humanity for a period of time that day Divisional Commander Andy Hough |
| Mr Thacker said as he approached Shaun, who was sitting on a ledge overlooking London Road, the teenager told him: "You can talk to me, but you won't change my mind." | Mr Thacker said as he approached Shaun, who was sitting on a ledge overlooking London Road, the teenager told him: "You can talk to me, but you won't change my mind." |
| At one point the negotiator stretched his arms out to Shaun to try to persuade him to come away from the ledge to talk things over. | At one point the negotiator stretched his arms out to Shaun to try to persuade him to come away from the ledge to talk things over. |
| But as Shaun bent down to take his hand, a voice from the crowd shouted: "You're wasting taxpayers' money," the inquest was told. | But as Shaun bent down to take his hand, a voice from the crowd shouted: "You're wasting taxpayers' money," the inquest was told. |
| The teenager then pulled back from the officer, saying: "No, it's gone too far." A short time later he jumped, Mr Thacker said. | The teenager then pulled back from the officer, saying: "No, it's gone too far." A short time later he jumped, Mr Thacker said. |
| Asked by Ms Pinder whether he thought the abuse contributed to Shaun's decision to jump, Mr Thacker said: "It certainly made negotiations more difficult. | |
| "I knew Shaun for almost two hours. Shaun came over to me as very likeable and having a good future." | |
| The inquest heard that on the day Shaun died he was seen in a distressed state. | |
| After writing a series of letters, he took a bus to Derby. His mother found the letters and rang her son, pleading with him to come home. | |
| The individuals who were taunting Shaun at that time, whose identities remain unknown, are responsible, at least in part, for his death Assistant deputy coroner Louise Pinder | |
| But she heard nothing until she was contacted by police informing her that Shaun had killed himself. | |
| Police Divisional Commander Andy Hough told the inquest: "The city lost its humanity for a period of time that day". | Police Divisional Commander Andy Hough told the inquest: "The city lost its humanity for a period of time that day". |
| Earlier Shaun's mother Tina told the hearing her son felt under pressure because his GCSEs were approaching. | Earlier Shaun's mother Tina told the hearing her son felt under pressure because his GCSEs were approaching. |
| He had suffered from depression and had split from his partner five days before he killed himself. | |
| After recording the verdict Ms Pinder attacked the teenager's tormentors. | |
| "I am quite sure police officers were taken by surprise by the despicable people taunting Shaun," she said. | |
| "It's inconceivable that, whilst negotiators were talking with Shaun, these mindless people were behaving with such insensitivity and without any apparent concern for a human being's safety." |