Video: Man moments before
falling from roof

A man is recovering in hospital after falling from the roof
of a house and hitting his head against a fence.

The fall happened during a standoff with police in Swanstree
Avenue, Sittingbourne.

Eyewitnesses have told of the drama, which unfolded from 11.30am
on Wednesday.

Police attempted for an hour to talk the man down.

One person, who asked not to be named, said: "I think they [the
police] offered him some cigarettes. An officer went up in the loft
and offered them through the hole in the roof."

Another witness said: "There were about six officers, some with
riot shields crouching down in a hedge.

"He broke out of the roof. He was in a bad way."

A third witness said: "It was like I was in a cinema. We heard
some shouting, at first I thought it was workmen then I looked out
the

window and saw a man on the roof. He was just standing and shouting
to the policeman 'I won't come down".

"I went to the kitchen, then my fiance came in and said 'Oh my
God he must have jumped'. The next thing we knew the police

were running over to him."

The road was closed to traffic and medics treated the man at the
scene before taking him to the Kingsferry Bridge where an air
ambulance had landed.

He was then flown to the Royal London Hospital where he was today
in a stable condition.

A police spokesman said officers removed an air rifle they found
at the address.