Helen Yorke

Said the following about Paul Ewington:

“On the evening of Sunday in October 2018 a call was made to police stating that a female had gone to the Railway Station intent on self-harm / taking her own life. Called were the Guildford EIU which contained Paul Ewington, the duty MIO.

Following an initial area search the female was spotted on the public footbridge at the London end of the station above the tracks and officers made approaches from either end of the bridge. Police made initial contact on the bridge with the female and established a rapport. The Police officer approached from the other end and together they removed the female from the position of immediate danger on the bridge above the track. During this time Mr EWINGTON acted as the Single Point of Contact between us and the Wessex Integrated Control Centre, making necessary immediate calls regarding trains and traction current.

Once the female was lead off the bridge she was found to be in possession of a large quantity of paracetamol and had a recent self-inflicted knife type wound running up on the inside of her left forearm which was treated by the officers. It was clear that a sharp blade had been used to inflict the injury but none was found on initial search of the female. The female later in conversation told officers that it was in her bra which following further protracted negotiation she surrendered to police. During this period it became clear that the female was not happy engaging with police who she saw at times as the enemy due to previous encounters and she would not open up to officers or comply with requests to go to a vehicle.

This was aggravated due to the temperature dropping and the fact that South East Coast Ambulance Service were only assigning units to life and death incidents. The female became withdrawn and would not engage with police at which point Mr E Ewington introduced himself to her and using skill sets he has acquired in voluntary work he undertakes outside of work managed to get the female to engage and open up in discussion divulging key information about her predicament.

She was eventually convinced to get into a police vehicle where she disclosed that she had taken an overdose of prescribed medication prior to going to the station that night. The female was taken to a place of safety.

This was a successful intervention but over a protracted period with a subject that would not engage.

Outcome of Incident (EG Sentence imposed):

The actions of Mr Ewington undoubtedly helped officers bring the situation to a success in which the female elicited more crucial background evidence that she would not disclose to police.“