Paul Larder

Said the following about Kay Bonner:

“The narrative below comes from the British Transport Police and provide a far more articulate explanation than I could give:

Kay was on her way into work and was at the station awaiting a train. Whilst on the platform she noticed a male standing at the country end of platform 2. With no one else on the platform, she has gone and engaged with the male to check whether he was ok and what his intentions are. Despite the male telling Kay that he was “waiting for the train”, she could tell from his body language and emotions that he wasn’t being entirely truthful and continued to ask him questions about his intentions to see if he needed to seek help.

At this point, the Male left the station and despite Kay trying to follow him to support him, he disappeared.

Kay then made a call to the suicide prevention hotline and spoke to a BTP controller and passed over some very detailed description of the male and what her initial concerns were. A BTP log was raised (76-090822) and unfortunately the male was not located as he resides very close to the station and was in his HA.

The male re-appeared later in the day and was detained by police. The information provided by Kay from the morning allowed us to gather a much better picture of the male's presentation and behaviours and safeguard him appropriately. The male was not forthcoming with information, hence why the information provided by Kay was so important.

Lastly, I would like to commend the actions of Kay as she undoubtedly saved a life and stopped what could have been a railway fatality in the morning peak. It is a clear example of how her relevant training and experience on the railway has paid off and the best outcome has been reached.

Please could you pass on her thanks from us at BTP for her work.

I think this speaks for itself in terms of what an amazing individual Kay is!“