Dunedin woman who climbed St Paul’s Cathedral and threatened self-harm cleared of wasting police time

A Dunedin woman who was found at the top of the city’s St Paul’s Cathedral has been cleared of wasting police time.

On the evening of January 19, a woman, who has been granted name suppression, made two calls to emergency services claiming she was on top of a church intending to harm herself, the Dunedin District Court heard this week.

When police arrived they could not see her from the ground, so they scaled scaffolding to reach the roof.

The woman was found sitting at the edge of a 30-metre drop and police could not safely reach her.

It took more than an hour to convince her to move to safety.

The woman faced a charge of wasting police resources, which could be dismissed if it was proven she was suffering genuine stress at the time.

Counsel Karlena Lawrence argued her client had a diagnosis of depression and was taking a “suboptimal dose” of her prescribed medication for about six weeks before she went to the cathedral.

“It is clear that she was under severe mental distress.”

Once at the police station the woman spent over an hour with the emergency psychiatric service and the judge said the court was “unable to lay a foundation that it was put on or a waste of police time”.

“It must be proven that the apprehension for your safety was groundless. This is where I think police fall down,” Judge David Robinson said.

The charge was dismissed and the woman was allowed to leave but not without receiving advice from the judge.

“You can’t let yourself get into a situation where you are acting in this manner. You put yourself and police at risk.

“You now know what it feels like when things are going out of control. When you feel the early warning signs getting in touch with a GP is a matter of urgency.”

The woman was reportedly coping well and had experienced a significant improvement in her mental state since adjusting her medication.