DRUNKEN teenager Faye Szulc, disrupted train services for five hours and cost Network Rail more than £5,000 after threatening to jump from a bridge over the river at Ely. Thirteen trains were delayed as Szulc, 19, sat on the parapet of the bridge near Poc

DRUNKEN teenager Faye Szulc, disrupted train services for five hours and cost Network Rail more than £5,000 after threatening to jump from a bridge over the river at Ely.

Thirteen trains were delayed as Szulc, 19, sat on the parapet of the bridge near Pocket Park with one leg dangling over the water.

Six trains were stopped in a line from Littleport to prevent an accident because there were people on the track, Ely magistrates heard on Thursday.

Four officers were sent to the scene where Szulc, of Christopher Tye Close, Ely, was shouting and swearing as a friend tried to get her to come down. She warned officers to get away otherwise she would jump off the bridge.

Prosecuting Yetunde Fawehinmi told the court: "She said her life was s*** and not worth living."

One officer managed to get closer to the bridge and was ordered away but then told to come back.

Finally, after more than an hour-and-a-half, Szulc agreed to get down from the bridge if the officer moved away.

By the time she left the scene in a car with her friends she had caused "considerable disruption" and more than five hours had been lost in delayed or cancelled services, said Ms Fawehinmi.

Szulc, admitted breaching an Anti Social Behaviour Order which had been imposed by an earlier court and trespassing on the railway line on August 3. She also admitted stealing two bottles of alcohol worth £20 from Waitrose in Ely on July 25.

Mitigating Nick Barnes said that Szulc was an alcoholic who had made several attempts at self-harming and suicide.

"This was a very sad and troubling episode for Miss Szulc," he said. "She was focused on her own difficulties and did not realise the difficulties or inconvenience this had caused to the railway. She hadn't intended to hold up any trains.

"She is a young girl with significant problems. She has felt very low and depressed in the last few months. She recognises that she has a problem with alcohol and has contacted the alcohol service in Cambridge. There are concerns about her mental health.

"This lady needs help more than punishment."

The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report until October 11, Szulc, who has previous convictions, was granted unconditional bail.