Some people just need locking up...

Elliemental · 23-06-2009 9:38am #1

I got a text message about this early this morning, and at first I thought it was a suicide attempt, but after seeing the footage i`m not so sure. I think he may just be clinically insane, and need locking up!

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/man-climbs-belfasts-200ft-wheel-attraction-14353848.html

Belfast's Big Wheel ground to a halt last night after a man climbed to the top and perched on the edge for several hours.

Belfast's Big Wheel ground to a halt last night after a man climbed to the top and perched on the edge for several hours.

The drama unfolded shortly after 6.30pm as commuters and city centre shoppers made their way home past the iconic landmark.

The man, dressed only in a pair of shorts, clambered his way up the 200-foot tall structure as astonished onlookers watched from below.

He then climbed on top of one of the 42 pods before pulling himself on to the rim of the wheel.

Over the next two hours he clung to the edge of the wheel, occasionally shifting his position or leaning over to look down.

A number of tourists who had been enjoying a trip on the wheel were left stranded in their capsules for the duration of the incident.

Dave Hamilton from Australia said he first became aware of a problem when he saw a pair of jeans dropping to the ground.

“He was just going absolutely nuts, crazy,” he said.

“He was yelling and screaming and slamming his head against the post. I definitely thought he was on something.

“It was very scary, I thought he was going to jump.”

Specially equipped members of the Fire and Rescue Service were deployed to try and bring the man down. They climbed up the middle of the wheel and one of them was seen to have a conversation with the man.

Shortly afterwards he began to climb down of his own accord.

Upon reaching the bottom he was arrested and taken away in a police car.

The man is understood to be Patrick Joyce (38) and is from the Travelling community.

Members of that community have been camped outside the front of the City Hall since last week to protest at a lack of sites to accommodate them.

Relatives of the man were among the hundreds of people who gathered behind the City Hall to watch the events.

They did not wish to speak to the press, but said they did not know why he had taken such dramatic action.

One anxious woman who watched from below said: “He was just lying at the top of the wheel with his arms wrapped around it and his legs on it.

“He was there for quite some time.”

Another onlooker said: “It was difficult to see him before he started moving but when he did he was alot clearer.”

The area around City Hall was sealed off by police, with large screens erected to try and shield the immediate site from view.

Belfast councillor and former Lord Mayor Pat McCarthy, who was among those at the scene, said: “I have been up on the wheel myself and you would have to have something wrong with you to want to go up on one of those like that.

“We must be glad that this ended peacefully and that noone was killed or injured.”

A police spokesman said last night that the man had been arrested.

“Shortly after 6.30pm police received reports that a man had climbed onto the Belfast Wheel in the grounds of the City Hall,” he said.

“Emergency services attended the scene along with police negotiators and the PSNI Search and Rescue Team.

“A number of people had to remain in the pods on the wheel during the incident.

“The man was brought down safely by Fire and Rescue personnel shortly after 9pm and was arrested by police.”

0ubliette · 23-06-2009 10:11am

and a traveller too? I like where this thread is heading...

Praetorian Saighdiuir · 23-06-2009 10:16am

He was playing "guess the Eddie Murphy film"...........Turns out he confused Beverley Hill cop 3 with BHC 2. Then had to get down because his tea was ready.

Elliemental · 23-06-2009 10:19am

0ubliette wrote: »

and a traveller too? I like where this thread is heading...

It says he may be a traveller, nothing has been confirmed yet. And anyway, what relevance is that? Anyone who climbs 200 ft up a bloody big wheel obviously has issues.

tech77 · 23-06-2009 10:29am

Is that David Blaine pr1ck at it again.

WindSock · 23-06-2009 10:50am

Ahh he's just havin a bit of craic.

ejmaztec · 23-06-2009 10:55am

He was probably looking into the possibility of replacing all of the pods with caravans for a space-saving aerial halting site.

Rented Mule · 23-06-2009 10:57am

I hate it when things like this makes the news.

First Belfast has a 200ft wheel, the next thing you know Athlone is going to want one too.

Where does this madness end ?