Is This The Oddest 'Volcano' Excuse Yet?

A mentally ill man who says he is a potential danger to other people has criticised the authorities for failing to listen to him.

Hmm, should probably take this one with a pinch of salt, but let's read on...

After battling the illness for years, he says his health has recently slumped and he is aware his moods are fluctuating.

At his worst he hears voices and has a desire to deliver “retribution” to paedophiles, sex offenders and people who attack the elderly and vulnerable.

That desire is perfectly normal, so long as he doesn't act on i...

Oh:

Recently he spent an evening sat outside a caravan in Ipswich, waiting for a known sex offender to return.

Afterwards, the man recognised the danger of his actions and, fearful he might carry out his thoughts, he rang the north Essex mental health trust crisis line.

He said: “I tried to tell the nurse I needed help. She accused me of quoting scripture from the film Deliverance, and said I watched too many films and read too many books.

WTF..?!?

Assuming this is an accurate report - and we only have this man's word for it - that's pretty outrageous.

But far more bizarre was the statement by the NHS mouthpiece, which rather made me thing something had been left out of the newspaper report:

Ian Coulson-Thorpe, a spokesman for North Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Like many organisations, some of our staff have been affected by the disruption to flights. This disruption does not affect the services we provide.

“The trust’s annual leave policy ensures adequate cover is in place so we continue to provide services while staff are on leave.”

What does potential understaffing have to do with this story? Nowhere in the man's account is it mentioned. So why mention is in the rebuttal?

Are they short handed, and it was a cleaner who picked up the helpline? It might explain the bizarre nature of the claimed response!

“Following investigation of the issue raised with us, we have found we spoke to the service user for more than 20 minutes over the phone.

“Our staff are trained professionals and offer high standards of care.”

It appears, assuming the account to be true, that that isn't the case here.