Survivor of tragic cliff fall at Thurso 'struggling to cope' with impact of incident, court hears

The survivor of a cliff fall which killed his companion in the summer is struggling to cope with the tragedy, a sheriff heard yesterday.

Dominic Long was due at Wick Sheriff Court on Tuesday to be sentenced on various offences but was said instead to be receiving medical care in hospital.

His solicitor Fiona MacDonald said that when the 25-year-old arrived at Wick Sheriff Court, he was clearly unwell and was immediately sent to Caithness General Hospital.

The tragedy occurred in July when emergency services were alerted after a report that two people had fallen from the cliff at Victoria Walk, Thurso. Rescuers found Long and Alesha Wright on rocks beneath 50ft sheer cliffs.

Long was winched up by a helicopter to a waiting ambulance and taken to Raigmore Hospital, at Inverness. Miss Wright was transferred to Scrabster and taken into the care of Police Scotland.

Miss MacDonald described Long's state when he arrived at the court as being "in the worst mess" she had ever seen him in all the time she had represented him.

The solicitor said: "He is seriously struggling to cope with the burden that he survived the fall and Miss Wright didn't. Mentally, it is going to take him some time to recover. Since the fall he has attempted to get back into the community, but he has become totally fragile and has been referred for a psychiatric assessment."

Long's cases, which involve threatening or abusive behaviour, assault and possession of drugs, were continued for a month by Sheriff Ian Miller.

He remarked that he had been on the bench at the court around the time of the tragedy. He added that he would require a report on Long's condition which he would consider when the accused reappeared.