A man had to be talked down from St Michael’s Tower on
Cornmarket Street on Monday afternoon, after threatening to
commit suicide for the second time in a week. The man, known as
Billy, can often be seen playing his guitar next to the railings
outside the tower, and is well liked by the church’s staff. An informant, who works in the shop at the bottom of the
tower, and would only give his name as Philip, said that Billy
came in to ask him for money at midday on Monday. Upon his
refusal, Billy ran up the tower, and was pursued by the organist,
who was practicing at the time. The organist stayed with Billy until the arrival of the
police, who arrested him “for his own safety”.
Inspector Gibbs, of the Thames Valley Police, said that the
incident was “dealt with promptly and swiftly”. He
added that the police will “now rely on medical experts to
take on the case.” Monday’s events followed an almost identical incident
last week, when the same man sat on the tower and had to be
talked down by the police. Church administrator Francis King
said, “It was a cry for help rather than anything
serious.” Philip commented that he has witnessed similar behaviour from
others in the past, although, to his knowledge, no one in recent
times has actually attempted to jump off the tower. There is said, however, to be a copy of a 1301 inquest
describing how one Robert de Horityn fell from the tower “by
mischance”, so that “the whole of his body was
broken”. The tower is commonly known to be the oldest
building in the whole of Oxford. Police insist that this was an isolated incident. Inspector
Gibbs commented on the fact that “people don’t
associate Oxford with this”ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004
Second ‘cry for help’
