Bad service made man suicidal
2005-06-30 08:47
Cape Town - A man who wanted to cut his throat earlier this week because of bad service, is still under observation in the Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital - the same institution he had complained about.
The 36-year-old man was holding a knife against his throat when he stormed into the offices of the Cape mental health association in Observatory on Tuesday afternoon.
Ingrid Daniels, head of the association, said the man had entered the building at 16:20 and threatened to cut his own throat. ''The man is an outpatient at Valkenberg and was unhappy with the service he received at the hospital.''
The man locked himself inside the building, and the emergency services as well as the police were summoned. More than five hours after they began negotiations with the man, he agreed to put down the knife.
''I was deeply impressed with the conduct of the police during the incident,'' Daniels said.