A Harlow officer located a missing woman and helped to save her life

On the morning of January 28, Pc Matt Hughes from Harlow’s Local Policing Team, received a call to search for a missing woman. She had been taken to hospital earlier on in the day and left before receiving the medical treatment that she needed.

Matt responded to the call as soon as it came in and with a wealth of local knowledge under his belt, he found the woman shortly after on the roof of a multi-story car park.

When Matt first spotted her, he could see that she was standing on the edge of the railings and knew he had to approach her cautiously so that he wouldn’t startle her.

Upon seeing Matt, the woman became highly distressed and intent on ending her own life, but Matt spoke to her calmly and reassured her that he was there to help her.

After calm negotiation, Matt managed to convince the woman to come away from the ledge and with further negotiation the woman walked away from the edge and walked straight to Matt for a hug.

Matt took her back to Harlow Police Station to be assessed by the Street Triage Team, where she was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Matt said: “I was just in the right place at the right time and I’m glad I was able to get the woman the help she needed.”