Cop just inches from saving troubled teen

A British police officer has told how his efforts to save a teenager from leaping off a shopping centre car park were dashed by onlookers urging the troubled boy to jump.

Detective Inspector Barry Thacker was just inches from pulling Shaun Dykes away from the ledge before one last heckle caused Dykes to jump to his death 18m below.

The 17-year-old boy spent an hour and a half talking to the trained negotiator on the top level of a Westfield shopping centre carpark in the town of Derby on September 27 last year.

Detective Inspector Thacker yesterday told an inquest into Dykes's death that a crowd gathered below the ledge and started hurling abuse at the teen and urging him to kill himself, Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper reports.

"Shaun was engaging with us but once the shouts came up he would disengage, close his eyes and count down to ten," Detective Inspector Thacker told the inquest.

"The shouts were things like 'Jump', 'Get on with it' and 'Come on — stop wasting time'."

The negotiator told of how he nearly got Dykes to come down but one last taunt was the final straw.

"I had been sat with my arms out towards Shaun — he bent down to reach down to my hand when there was a shout of 'You're wasting taxpayers' money'," Thacker said.

"He stood up, said 'It's gone too far', and started counting down."

Detective Inspector Thacker said he and another officer then tried to get the boy to re-engage but he said "No" and leapt off the building.

The teen died instantly from severe injuries.

Newspaper reports at the time claimed that onlookers took photos of the boy's dead body.

The court heard that Dykes, from Kilburn, had split with his boyfriend just days before and had a history of depression and suicide attempts.