Mum dies in bridge plunge

Dec 31 2009 by Bryan Brough, Paisley Daily Express

AN investigation was under way last night after a tragic mum jumped to her death from the Erskine Bridge.

The woman fell 125 feet from the notorious suicide spot in the early hours of yesterday morning.

It is believed the woman is 51-year-old Hazel Mason, who had been reported missing from her home earlier this week.

Police found her Renault Scenic car with its hazard lights on parked near the centre of the bridge. A door of the vehicle was lying open.

Officers began searching the area and, after a short time, brought in the Coastguard.

After a lengthy search of the River Clyde, the lifeless body of a woman was found.

It is understood that Ms Mason had driven across the Erskine Bridge after visiting a cemetery in Ayrshire.

She was on her way back home to Edinburgh when she crossed the bridge at around 2am yesterday.

One source told the Paisley Daily Express: “Police discovered a parked car with its hazard lights on and a door lying open. When they went to investigate, there was no-one inside.

“Officers checked the car’s registration number to get the name of the owner and discovered she had been reported missing a day or so earlier.”

This latest tragedy comes just months after 15-year-old Neve Lafferty and her 14-year-old friend Georgia Rowe walked out of a care home they had been staying in and made their way to the Erskine Bridge before jumping off together in a suicide pact.

The pair sneaked out of the Good Shepherd Centre in Bishopton, which is run by the Catholic Church, on October 4, and leapt to their deaths.

Motorists could only look on in horror as the girls held hands and jumped off the parapet.

A police inquiry into the double tragedy is continuing.

Earlier this month, East Kilbride-born Paul O’Neill, 45, fell to his death from the bridge.

He was facing charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour dating back to 1994 and had been released on bail.

Jim Sheridan, who is the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, is among those who have called for tougher measures to try to deter people from jumping off the Erskine Bridge.

He got in touch with Transport Scotland, who are responsible for the operation of the bridge, to ask them to raise the current barriers and extend them the full length of the structure.

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond has since given assurances that safety and suicide prevention measures at the bridge will be re-examined.