The PC crowd must have been foaming at this one.

You really do need a humour bypass not to smile at this.

Radio DJ Steve Penk has been condemned by mental health charities for playing a song entitled Jump as police were trying to talk down a suicidal woman from a motorway bridge.

[feigns outrage] Oh, oh, the poor family of that poor woman. How awful for them that this so-called DJ makes light of it. [/feigns outrage]

Ah, but hang on a moment.

The controversial presenter had a request from a listener for the track by Van Halen after four lanes of the M60 were closed while police attempted to deal with the delicate situation.

So not actually his idea then? Just a DJ responding to his audience, yes? And since these things are a two way street and remembering what the Steve Penk show was like in his Capital Radio days I'd expect a fairly broad sense of humour to be typical of the guy's audience.

He told listeners on his 96.2FM The Revolution's breakfast show he was playing the song to empathise with frustrated motorists, but moments later the woman jumped from the 30ft bridge.

And? Bloody hell, it's time for Dictionary Corner again.

coincidence |kōˈinsədəns; -ˌdens|
noun
1 a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection : it's no coincidence that this new burst of innovation has occurred in the free nations | they met by coincidence.

But predictably enough the Righteous among the associated charities are farting sparks.

A spokesman for The Samaritans said: "It shows a lack of compassion and understanding", while Paul Farmer of Mind said it was in "very poor taste".

Look fellas, where does it say that we must be compassionate and understanding, or that charities (particularly those that get some of their income from taxpayers' money) are the arbiters of good taste? Got it written down, have you? No? Then fuck off.

Still, at least nobody's suggesting that the woman jumped (incidentally, she was only injured) because of Steve Penk and Eddie Van Halen.

Some listeners also voiced their disgust at the stunt.
Lorna Guinn said: "It's irresponsible - this woman could have overheard it on someone's car stereo. I found it pathetic and nasty."

/headdesk

Oh, do give your fucking thoughts a little time to develop, you fuckwit. This story revolves around the fact that the motorway has completely shut because this woman was 30 feet up on a bridge. Do you think that the police just made everybody stop right where they were, including those vehicles within earshot of the bridge? Do me a favour - the cops aren't that daft. Other reports said that one carriageway was shut between junctions 19 and 20 and the outside lane was closed on the other carriageway, leaving only two lanes of traffic from which she might possibly have heard a second or two of Eddie singing over the traffic noise before that vahicle was out of earshot. And with the cold weather being what it is I doubt that people were driving along with the windows down, making it even harder still. So, Lorna Guinn, do you think she picked the song out of all that background noise by means of superhero like aural abilities and, distraught at the suggestion, decided to act on the lyrics? Or, given the fact that she was up there threatening to jump off in the fucking first place, do you think it might perhaps have been because she was serious about topping herself from the outset?

The only good thing here is that Steve Penk seems to be shuffling through his music collection looking for Non, je ne regrette rien.

"The entire area had been thrown into total chaos by a single troubled woman. I was very sorry to hear that the lady had subsequently jumped from the bridge but relieved that her injuries were minor.
"If, as has been suggested, the woman jumped because she heard it from a passing car radio that's unfortunate. But I don't regret playing it for a minute."

And cue applause from an expat down under. Look, it's sad that there are disturbed people (or even rational ones) who want to die but let's not look at black humour* as either a cause or somehow wrong on taste grounds. The former is ridiculous and the latter is subjective. There's no right not to be offended - deal with it.

* I hope no explanation of that term and why it has no relevance to any kind of race is needed, but if not I'll write it all down and fax it to anyone who wants it providing that they sellotape it to a cricket bat and twat themselves across the eyes with it.