Woman plunges to her death from top restaurant that has become suicide spot for City workers

A glass of wine at an empty table as woman falls 80ft near Bank Station
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Rashid Razaq|Rob Parsons12 October 2012

A businesswoman plunged 80ft to her death from a rooftop restaurant in front of more than a hundred people.

Horrified diners told how they saw the smartly-dressed Asian woman in her 30s jump eight storeys from the top of Coq D’Argent last night landing in front of shoppers and commuters outside Bank station.

She is said to have taken a sip of wine and placed her handbag on the floor before falling from the packed restaurant.

It is the third death at the No 1 Poultry restaurant after stockbroker Anjool Malde, 24, jumped to his death clutching a glass of champagne in 2009 after he was suspended from his job at Deutsche Bank.

In May 2007 Richard Ford, a 33-year-old City worker, died after throwing himself off the building and landing on top of a bus.

A man who was at the restaurant said: “The place was packed. There must have been 100 people. Everyone was just doing their usual, drinking and talking loudly. She must have walked to the corner and just jumped.

“All of a sudden the restaurant went quiet and a staff member said we had to leave. It was extremely eerie.

"I looked over and there was a floral print bag on the corner. She must have jumped from there. It was not a place you would usually stand. By the time we got to the bottom there were police round a body and emergency services were trying to resuscitate – but there was no way anyone could survive that. It is really sad. Everyone was talking on the way down saying ‘surely it should never get as bad as that.’”

Another diner who was there for a business meal said his group only realised what happened when two police officers arrived and told people they had to leave the restaurant.

“I saw a handbag and a glass of wine that had obviously been the woman’s. From listening to what people were telling the police it sounded like she had been quite self-collected, just taken a sip of wine, and then stepped over the edge,” he said.

Staff at Trailfinders travel agent on Poultry where the woman landed on the pavement rushed to the scene to try and help.

“I heard a scream and a thud. I thought my friend had fainted but I went over and saw it was not her. There was a woman, Indian, in her 30s, she was lying face down.

“Her leg was broken, there was a pool of blood around her head. I looked to see if she was breathing and had a pulse but she didn’t.

“Two people who were there called 999 and they said not to move her because she might have a broken neck. Shortly afterwards the paramedics arrived and they took it from there. She was in business attire buit wearing trainers, she was wearing a jumper and trousers,” said a member of staff who did not want to give her name.

One City worker wrote on Twitter immediately after the woman jumped: “My heart has never beat so deep and fast in all my life. People were crying their eyes out. She landed 20 metres in front of me.

“I just can’t believe how close I was to the whole thing, I don’t think this City life is for me. I mean how bad can things have been 4 her?

“Absolutely numb, just in shock. Can’t get the image out of my mind. I don’t want to end up like her. That city square mile sucks the life out of you.”

Mr Malde, was found to have committed suicide by City of London coroner after an inquest heard how he was suspended from work over a prank email.

His father today told the Standard that news of another death at the same restaurant had brought back painful memories for him and offered his sympathies to the woman’s family.

Bharat Malde said: “Oh dear... another life lost, presumably in their prime, like Anjool’s, with all the dreams and hopes gone in a second. London brims with bright talent that makes events like this defy any sense or logic. What must it be like for her loved ones, friends, parents. As grieving parents ourselves, we offer our deepest sympathies to them with the hope and wish that they will bear her loss with strength and fortitude. May her soul rest in peace.”

A City of London Police spokesman confirmed the tragedy, saying: “At approximately 18.30 a woman was seen to fall from a building in Poultry. She was pronounced dead at the scene.”

David Loewie, managing director of D&D London, owners of Coq d’Argent said: “It is a very sad case, but we can not comment further as a police investigation is under way.”