Patients and hospital staff looks up to find the ‘Grim Reaper’ staring down at them from hospital roof

A bizarre incident at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Bodelwyddan, near St Asaph, North Wales, has gained international infamy after a man donned a Grim Reaper costume and climbed onto the hospital’s roof to scare staff and patients alike.

Leon Gillespie, 26, was caught on the night of June 6, 2026, scaling the roof of the hospital’s main entrance. And he wasn’t just wearing the dark, hooded robe famously associated with the personification of death. Gillespie was also allegedly carrying a long blade.

His presence immediately caused widespread panic throughout the hospital. To those looking from below, the figure silhouetted against the night sky appeared to be the Grim Reaper. Understandably, that could be a deeply distressing sight in a healthcare facility where many people are either personally facing serious medical conditions or have loved ones fighting for their lives.

He stayed there for 50 minutes

The incident began at approximately 11:30 p.m. and reportedly lasted nearly 50 minutes. During that time, Gillespie walked across the roof’s ledge, made loud noises and stared directly into windows and entryways where vulnerable patients were receiving care. Security eventually called the police, and he was brought down and arrested.

“A 26-year-old man has been arrested and charged following the incident on the roof of Ysbyty Glan Clwyd,” North Wales Police said, according to The Independent. Gillespie was charged with causing a nuisance or disturbance to an NHS staff member without reasonable excuse and refusing to leave the premises when asked to do so by a police constable.

The case was later brought before Llandudno Magistrates’ Court, where Gillespie pleaded guilty to causing a public nuisance without reasonable excuse. He was ordered to pay a £200 ($269.28) fine for the NHS public nuisance offense, £50 ($67.32) in compensation to victims and £100 ($134.64) in prosecution costs to the Crown Prosecution Service.

It turns out that Gillespie had two outstanding and unrelated charges that were equally bizarre. The man pleaded guilty to two counts of shoplifting from local retail outlets. He admitted to stealing cat food and cat litter in Llandudno on March 26. The second incident involved him stealing food and drinks from Sainsbury’s in Llandudno on May 28.

Following the sentencing, the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board issued a statement condemning the bizarre behavior. The health board emphasized that hospital staff already work under immense pressure and do not need additional public stunts that serve no purpose other than causing disruption and distress.

The institution reiterated its zero-tolerance policy toward anti-social behavior and deliberate disturbances, making clear that it will prosecute such offenders to the fullest extent of the law. That is understandable to most people.

He never said why

As for Gillespie, who was reportedly not experiencing any mental health difficulties, most people who heard the story simply wanted to know why he did it. It wasn’t Halloween, and it apparently wasn’t even a sick joke.

But perhaps while the mystery surrounding death, real or otherwise, is that no explanation is ever quite enough, what’s even harder to understand is humanity itself.