Leon Gillespie, 26, of Rhyl, North Wales, had a vision. And that vision was: dress up as the Grim Reaper — hood, scythe and all — climb onto the roof of Glan Clwyd hospital, and stand there, silently staring down at the patients and staff below. For a disturbing length of time. Until police and firefighters showed up and told him to knock it off.
This happened on June 6, but the case made news in August when Gillespie pleaded guilty to "causing a nuisance or disturbance without reasonable excuse on NHS premises." Which might be the most British criminal charge ever written. There's no word for what he did in any other language, because no other culture has produced a man who thought "you know what this hospital needs? Death himself, lurking on the roof."
Witnesses reported Gillespie dressed head-to-toe in black with what looked like a long blade. He stood overlooking the hospital entrance at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, near Rhyl, for long enough that multiple people called the authorities. When police arrived, they had to negotiate him down. The man was committed to the bit.
Here's what I love about this story: it is completely, gloriously pointless. He wasn't robbing the place. He wasn't making a political statement. He wasn't even trying to scare specific people — just everyone, indiscriminately, from above. This was performance art for an audience that did not consent to be part of it, performed on top of a building full of sick people. The sheer audacity of the bit is almost admirable.
Gillespie was fined and ordered to pay costs. He's probably back home in Rhyl now, waiting for the next inspiration to strike. I hope it's not a hospital again. But I also kind of hope he never stops being exactly this weird.
Wales: land of dragons, male voice choirs, slate-mine-aged cheese, and now a Grim Reaper cosplayer with a court date.