Man who climbed the Forth Road Bridge gets seven months

Published on Wednesday 4 February 2009 21:02

A MAN who climbed a tower on the Forth Road Bridge has been jailed for seven months.

Ross Wilson caused traffic chaos as staff were forced to close the road during his climb.

Wilson, 22, had been drinking when he decided to go to the bridge, where he scaled the 360ft North Tower by climbing up the wire supports, before descending and running around on the road, where police arrested him. The incident last month saw the bridge closed for an hour as Wilson's antics forced operators to divert traffic via Kincardine.

Wilson, of Portobello, Edinburgh, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court last month where he admitted breach of the peace – but sentencing was delayed for background reports.

Yesterday, Sheriff Craig McSherry gave Wilson a seven-month jail sentence, saying it was a deterrent against copycat cases.

Sheriff McSherry added that it was one of the most serious cases of breach of the peace that he had ever presided over.

The court heard last month that he had told an operator on the bridge's public footpath: "I have a drink problem and no-one can help me."

He then jumped over the railings and began his climb.

Yesterday, Chris Sneddon, Wilson's solicitor, told the court that the rampage was out of character and that her client was seeking help for his drink problem.

She added that his behaviour was a "cry for help" rather than an attempt to take his own life.

In sentencing Wilson, Sheriff McSherry said: "I must take into consideration that this is not a situation where you immediately complied with the police.

"I must take into consideration the interests of the public and consider the massive inconvenience you caused."