Knife woman in woodland drama

1:07pm Friday 9th May 2008

A SEARCH and rescue mission was launched after a woman brandishing a 10-inch carving knife threatened to commit suicide before going on the run in Warminster.

A 22-year-old woman who was already bleeding from self-inflicted wounds went missing on Tuesday after threatening to take her own life.

Officers from Trowbridge and Westbury helped to locate the woman at 7.15pm, who was found alive but in a highly emotional state in a wooded area near Warminster Common.

Acting Sergeant Sam Withey and PC Graham Briant, both of Warminster police, were the first officers to discover the woman, who is from the Bradley Road area.

PC Briant, 43, said: "We went down a track and found her at the bottom sitting down with the blade of the knife pointing at her neck, under her chin. She was very edgy and crying and telling us to go away and she said if you don't I'll kill myself'."

The officers talked to the woman while alerting the search teams to stay back to avoid upsetting her further.

The officers made attempts to edge closer and it was then that they discovered she was bleeding.

"She had fresh cuts on her arm and she had a big knife on her. It was very unpredictable at that point," said PC Briant, who has been in the police force for 16 years.

"After 10 minutes we moved closer and she moved away. She started sawing at her wrists so we interrupted and got her talking again.

"Sam and I looked at each other and knew what we were going to do. We were a few feet away but we managed to use the Pava spray and that did the trick."

The woman, who did not need hospital treatment, has been detained under the Mental Health Act.

Acting Sgt Withey, 31, has previously been nominated for a bravery award at the National Police Bravery Awards in July for helping to rescue a suicidal man from the top of a three-storey building at Westbury Railway Station in November.

Armed with a Stanley knife and with a noose around his neck, the 40-year-old man from Radstock, near Frome, was angry at the way he had been treated by his former employers.

Acting Sgt Withey, acting Sgt Dave Thompson and PC Steve Porter scaled a disused ladder, no longer deemed safe for staff, in order to rescue the man. All three have been nominated for awards.