Police are to charge four people in connection with an incident where onlookers taunted a man to jump from a bastion wall in Valletta.

Earlier this month, Times of Malta revealed how a group of people jeered at the man in crisis before he was brought to safety.

"The police identified four people and after an investigation they will be charged in court," a spokesman said.

Police did not say what charges would be brought but they had been investigating whether the people were instigating the man to kill himself, which carries a maximum 12-year sentence. 

They will be charged to appear in court by citation at an unknown date.

It took police and rescue workers two hours to talk down the man, who had been sitting with his legs dangling off the side of the bastion on November 19. 

Footage of the incident captured by Times of Malta has since been shared widely, with many expressing outrage and incredulity at the behaviour of the people jeering at a man in distress.

One woman was heard shouting "hurry up and do it so we can back to work", while another said, "it will be embarrassing if you don't jump now".

 According to the Criminal Code, anyone who "shall prevail on any person to commit suicide or shall give him any assistance, shall, if the suicide takes place, be liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve years".

Article 41 of the Criminal Code further says that anyone who intends to commit a crime can be liable to conviction if the "crime was not completed in consequence of some accidental cause independent of the will of the offender".

After the comments, suicide survivors said they found the comments deeply disturbing and that they had brought back memories of their own dark times.