Herries Road Sheffield: Woman describes terror after nearly being hit by brick thrown from Five Arches Bridge

Harley Beckett was walking along Herries Road near Hillsborough Stadium at night on Friday, July 15 when the missile narrowly missed her head and smashed onto the ground beside her as she approached Five Arches Bridge.

The 26-year-old McDonald’s worker, who lives in Hillsborough, said: “I heard this massive smash and when I looked around I saw this red brick on the ground and thought ‘someone’s thrown that’. It must have been about an inch from my face.

"I walked really quickly under the bridge and when I got through and turned around a bit later I saw a young lad with his arms up on the railings looking towards me. That’s when I realised it really had been someone throwing that brick.”

Harley said it was the first time she was aware of people throwing things from the bridge but when she spoke to her partner he said he’d seen it happening a couple of weeks earlier.

On Saturday, July 16, police said they had again been called that day to reports of people throwing items at passing vehicles, several of which had been struck.

Although no one is believed to have been injured yet, officers said if the ‘mindless’ behaviour continues it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously harmed or killed.

Harley said: “I’m still quite shaken. I have quite bad mental health, quite bad depression and anxiety, so obviously this didn’t help with my anxiety.

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"I’d say to whoever’s doing this please think about other people. That brick could easily have hit me and I could have ended up in hospital or dead and they could have been facing a serious charge.

"There could also be someone who’s petrified of walking and even if they’re not hit this could be enough to ruin their day, week or even their life. They could be so traumatised they never want to leave the house again.”

South Yorkshire Police have said they are working with Network Rail and British Transport Police to find those responsible.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101.