Man talked down from high wall by negotiators at Leeds General Infirmary is prosecuted

Negotiators had to talk Matthew Wilson down from the ledge after he had been taken to accident and emergency for his bizarre behaviour. They spent three hours trying to coax him down before he was grabbed.

The 58-year-old appeared at Leeds Crown Court via video link from HMP Leeds this week where he was being held on remand. Officers had been called to All Saints’ Church in Otley on February 21 to find Wilson “highly intoxicated” and “acting erratically”, prosecutor Lauren Smith told the court.

He tried to spray an unknown liquid towards the officers so he was detained and put in the back of the police van while the officers tried to calm him down. He kicked out and caught the knee of one of the officers. Once they arrived at the Great George Street hospital, Wilson was able to escape and scale the wall.

Wilson, of no fixed address, later admitted a charge of assault on an emergency worker and causing a public nuisance. He also admitted arson from an incident in the early hours of February 10, when Wilson had entered a car-sales premises, Denton Cars, in Otley and was seen on CCTV starting a small fire.

He then started a fire with a piece of clothing next to a VW vehicle. Witnesses called the police who found Wilson at the site and armed with lighter fluid. He tried to resist and was PAVA sprayed.

During his police interview, he said he was taking shelter at the car dealership and wanted to break into the car and set it alight with him inside. He told police he wanted to end his life because he had been wrongly accused of being a paedophile.

He said he had a panic attack at the church and suffered from PTSD that had “got out of hand”. He has 27 previous convictions for 52 offences, mainly for acquisitive crimes, such as petty theft.

Sign up now to get the latest headlines and breaking stories from Leeds and the surrounding areas delivered straight to your inbox, with the YEP’s free newsletter

Mitigating, Anthony Sugare said: “Whether it was an intention to kill himself, he has actually caused property to damage. He makes the point that that was not his intention.”

Referring to the hospital incident, Judge Tahir Khan KC told Wilson: “That behaviour was a public nuisance. You have a long history of drug addiction and there are mental health concerns.

“But it seems to me that the public is better served by me punishing you in the community. It would be easy to send you to prison but nothing is gained, in my judgement, by doing that.”

He gave him 18 months’ jail, suspended for two years, gave him 20 rehabilitation days and a drug-rehabilitation requirement for six months.