David Mottershead, 27, climbed the scaffolding at City Hall on Sunday at 4am, and he says it was post traumatic stress disorder he got from entering minefields while on duty that led him to attempt suicide. Photo: Simon Finlay
Norwich Evening News - Norwich,England,UK
SAM WILLIAMS
14 May 2008 11:00
A former soldier diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder today told how he scaled 60ft to the top of scaffolding at City Hall as a desperate cry for help.
David Mottershead had to be talked down by police after clambering seven-storeys of scaffolding with the intention of taking his own life.
Officers spent more than an hour negotiating with the 27-year-old in the early hours of Sunday morning before he finally agreed to come down.
Today, Mr Mottershead told how he climbed the scaffolding after becoming frustrated in his attempts to receive help for his condition.
He claims he is one of thousands of former military service personnel to be diagnosed with PTSD but unable to get the support needed to make them better.
He was diagnosed with the illness three years ago after serving in the Territorial Army for two-and-a-half years.
This two tours of duty as a peacekeeper in Kosovo in 2000 during which his life was put in grave danger after entering three minefields.
Mr Mottershead, who grew up in military bases in Germany and across the UK, said the disease had left him suffering bouts of depression and suicidal tendencies, in constant fear and suffering recurring nightmares.
He was unable to keep down his former job as a manager in Glasgow nightclub and split up with his fiancée. He has now been living in emergency hotel accommodation in the city for about eight months after moving here to be close to his brother and the former RAF Coltishall airbase, where he lived for a time in his childhood.
On Saturday night Mr Mottershead recognised a worsening in his symptoms, and fearing he would harm himself pleaded with police at Bethel Street Police Station to lock him up for the night or get him sectioned. Officers drove him to Hellesdon Hospital, but medics refused to section him.
Police were forced to release him, but within hours he had clambered to the top of the scaffolding at City Hall, triggering an alarm.
SAM WILLIAMS
14 May 2008 11:00
A former soldier diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder today told how he scaled 60ft to the top of scaffolding at City Hall as a desperate cry for help.
David Mottershead had to be talked down by police after clambering seven-storeys of scaffolding with the intention of taking his own life.
Officers spent more than an hour negotiating with the 27-year-old in the early hours of Sunday morning before he finally agreed to come down.
Today, Mr Mottershead told how he climbed the scaffolding after becoming frustrated in his attempts to receive help for his condition.
He claims he is one of thousands of former military service personnel to be diagnosed with PTSD but unable to get the support needed to make them better.
He was diagnosed with the illness three years ago after serving in the Territorial Army for two-and-a-half years.
This two tours of duty as a peacekeeper in Kosovo in 2000 during which his life was put in grave danger after entering three minefields.
Mr Mottershead, who grew up in military bases in Germany and across the UK, said the disease had left him suffering bouts of depression and suicidal tendencies, in constant fear and suffering recurring nightmares.
He was unable to keep down his former job as a manager in Glasgow nightclub and split up with his fiancée. He has now been living in emergency hotel accommodation in the city for about eight months after moving here to be close to his brother and the former RAF Coltishall airbase, where he lived for a time in his childhood.
On Saturday night Mr Mottershead recognised a worsening in his symptoms, and fearing he would harm himself pleaded with police at Bethel Street Police Station to lock him up for the night or get him sectioned. Officers drove him to Hellesdon Hospital, but medics refused to section him.
Police were forced to release him, but within hours he had clambered to the top of the scaffolding at City Hall, triggering an alarm.
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