A suicidal man caused havoc to rail services in the South West when he threatened to jump from a bridge onto a main line.
Jeremy Stewart tried to jump off the same bridge in Torbay twice in the space of a few weeks and injured a police officer who tried to stop him.
He caused 12 trains to be cancelled and left hundreds of Bristol Rovers fans stranded in Exeter on the first day of the football season after their service was cancelled.
He sat on a bridge at Hamelin Way, Torquay, for two hours 25 minutes and caused six trains to be cancelled and another six diverted or disrupted at a cost of £37,000 to Network Rail.
His actions caused the closure of the line between Exeter and Paignton on one of the busiest days of the tourist season and the disruption spread as far North as Leeds because it delayed cross-country trains.
A judge ordered he should receive help from the probation service after hearing how he was suicidal at the time.
Stewart, aged 40, of Bay View, Paignton, admitted trespassing on the railway and disrupting trains on August 3 and causing actual bodily harm to Sergeant John Branwell during the earlier incident on July 27.
He was made subject of a community order under which she will receive supervision from the probation service for 12 months.
Judge Francis Gilbert, QC, told him:"I understand the circumstances in which this happened and accept you did not intend to hurt the police officer but were reckless when you did so."
Miss Janice Eagles, prosecuting, said Sgt Branwell was initially thought to have a broken finger but tests have shown him to have a condition called a mallet injury which has required treatment with a splint.
She said the officer was trying to talk Stewart down during his first suicide attempt when he became violent and lashed out, catching the officer on the hand. He was eventually restrained by two other police men using CS gas spray.
Stewart was arrested on the same bridge a week later when he climbed onto a parapet and looked ready to jump off.
Miss Eagles said:"He caused significant disruption to the rail company, which has to pay fines for delays by the minute and cost them £37,000.
"The officers managed to hold him back but there was a total stoppage on the line for two hours 25 minutes. He had also thrown his bag onto the line so he could see where he would fall if he jumped. He was suicidal on both occasions."
Mr Jonathan Barnes, defending, said Stewart had admitted his behaviour and had no intention of hurting anyone or causing disruption.
Ends
His actions caused the closure of the line between Exeter and Paignton and stopped Cross-Country trains packed with tourists returning home on Saturday August 3. The disruption to the rail network extended as far as Leeds.
Mr Adrian Chaplin, defending, said Stewart's father is willing to look after him pending sentence and he is keen to work with the psychiatric service in the mean time.
