Man, 27, made threats during Dundee multi drama

A man threatened to harm himself during a seven-hour stand-off with police at a Dundee multi.

Eric Rice, 27, was arrested after sitting on a ledge outside a window at Elders Court, Lochee, last Monday.

The drama unfolded around 5am and didn’t come to a conclusion until midday.

Rice sat on the ledge for several hours, threatening to jump, and was even heard singing at one stage.

That was despite the efforts of police on the ground and inside the flat who were trying to talk him down.

Appearing at Dundee Sheriff Court, Rice, who lives at Elders Court, admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner on various occasions by sitting on the fourth floor and uttering threats of self-harm.

He also admitted a separate charge of breaching bail orders by contacting Jillian Black at his home address on the same day.

He will return to court on July 11 to be sentenced.

When the Tele visited Rice’s home address, a relative said he had been detained in Perth Prison ahead of sentencing.

Rice filmed himself as he sat on the ledge and broadcast it live via Facebook.

In the video, he can be seen panning round to show the view from the ledge before focusing on officers inside the flat, asking them how he will be safer “locked up in a cell”.

Officers are heard telling him that he would be safer there, as he wouldn’t be “on a window ledge”.

The incident sparked a major emergency response, with police cordoning off the block while they tried to get Rice from the ledge.

At one point, he could be seen swinging from the ledge, holding on with just his hands as he moved between windows.

A small crowd gathered to watch the incident, which onlookers described as “scary”. Witness James Fox, 43, who lives in the block, told the Tele: “It is horrible seeing anything like this happening here.”

Another bystander added: “I heard voices and music coming from the flat all night and then I discovered that the man was threatening to jump.

“He was there for several hours.”