Man Dressed as the Grim Reaper Climbed Onto a Hospital Roof and Stared at People for 50 Minutes, Then the Police Arrived
This was grim sight people in hospital did not need.
A man who climbed onto the roof of a hospital dressed as the Grim Reaper has been fined after spending nearly an hour staring down at the people below. The incident happened at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd hospital in St Asaph, Wales, as reported by The Independent.
The man who was identified as 26-year-old Leon Gillespie from Deganwy, was spotted standing above the hospital entrance on June 6. He was wearing a full-length black robe with hood, holding what appeared to be a bladed scythe. As his stunt continued, his appearance sparked alarm among patients, staff and visitors.
Witnesses described him as standing almost completely still as he looked down at the people walking beneath him. While some may have considered this a dark joke, it became serious for the man when the North Wales Police and the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service were called to the scene.
Playing Death Landed the Man a Grim Fine
A spokesman for North Wales Police said, “He was charged with other than for the purpose of obtaining medical advice, treatment or care, caused, without reasonable excuse, a nuisance or disturbance to a National Health Service staff member who was working there or was otherwise there in connection with work, and refused, without reasonable excuse, to leave the premises when asked to do so by a constable.”
After more than 50 minutes on top of the hospital Gillespie was removed from the building and arrested. He appeared in court on July 15 to face the charges of causing a nuisance or disturbance on National Health Service property without reasonable excuse. He did not deny the charges, resulting in him being fined £200 with an additional £50 in compensation, roughly $300, for his prank.
In a statement, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s spokesman said, “The health board has previously stated it has a zero-tolerance approach to abuse, aggression or nuisance within its hospital sites.”
Although many have agreed that the images captured of Gillespie on the roof of the hospital are clearly in the nature of the personification of Death, he denied this was the case. Gillespie insisted in court that the costume was not meant to be the Grim Reaper at all. He claimed the outfit was meant to resemble a bird or a crow instead, however he provided no explanation of why he decided to climb onto the roof.
The stunt was not the only charge detailed in the court hearing. While his prank led to Gillespie’s day on the stand, he also pleaded guilty to charges of stealing cat food and litter from a pet store and food and drink from a supermarket earlier this year.
Some People Were Confused by the Charges
Reactions to the incident on social media were divided, with some saying that a man is allowed to dress up and stand in public if he wants and others noting that emergency services have more to do than deal with this kind of stunt. There were plenty, though, who just couldn’t understand why he had been arrested.
On Instagram, a post shared by @know.more included one user asking, “I’d like to know under which law was he arrested because this is freaking hilarious,” and another on the same post saying, “What happened to our sense of humor.” Several responses reiterated that Gillespie was on hospital property without any legitimate reason and caused a disturbance with his stunt.
On the same post, others worried for patients who were subjected to the view of the Grim Reaper watching over them. Shvetchandraa Dutta commented, “This is not funny from the patient’s view, especially the ones that are not unconscious. Creates anxiety of different types.” Despite this, others responded to those concerns by countering that if they had been in hospital at the time, they would have seen the funny side.
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