A 16-year-old boy who narrowly missed shoppers when he threw a heavy sofa off the top floor of a Westfield shopping centre for a prank was locked up today.
The teenager, who cannot be named, hurled the 15kg blue chair 50 feet downwards towards punters at the busy mall in Stratford, east London, in March.
He and his friend, then 14, were arrested when a video of the incident bearing the caption ‘No way bro almost killed someone’ went viral on social media.
He told police that the incident, which took place on March 1, was ‘not that deep’ and the worst outcome was somebody needing ‘hospital treatment’.
The 16-year-old boy claimed that he and his friend regularly threw objects off bridges and trains as ‘pranks’.
He later admitted recklessly causing a public nuisance and criminal damage.
Wearing a black Nike t-shirt, the 16-year-old boy appeared in the dock at Stratford Youth Court today accompanied by a Somali interpreter.
Prosecutor Noel Shaw said: ‘Clearly, the most serious factor is that there was a realistic risk of extremely serious injury, life-changing injury, to somebody completely unconnected with either of the defendants.
In the footage posted on social media, the boy, wearing a grey hoodie, can be seen hurling a blue seat from the top floor down to the bottom
‘What the court has seen is the defendant picking up what is described as – although I wouldn’t have used the word – a sofa, certainly a very heavy piece of furniture and throwing it over a balcony.
‘What one sees in the footage is effectively a type of stairwell – a tiered gallery situation – one can see that it has landed on a place where people are normally walking in the shopping centre.
‘This all occurred on 1 March this year, he was interviewed on the 4 March – to summarise, he admits throwing, he says he intended to do damage to the sofa stool, he admits being reckless.
‘He thought the worst that might happen is that is that someone might require hospital treatment, he was apologetic.
‘He’s stated that he and his co-defendant regularly indulge in pranks, including throwing objects off bridges and trains.’
Mr Shaw added: ‘He intended to throw the sofa stool over, off the balcony, knowing that there was nothing to prevent it from falling into the place below.
‘And, knowing that it is a place in which people were walking without any protective clothing or any other sort of protection.’
Mark Tooley, representing the 16-year-old, said he had been ‘showing off’.
After the chair was thrown, it could be seen falling from the top to the bottom floor of Westfield
‘Perhaps he may well have sought to make friends in the wrong kind of way – it was called showing off when I was a kid.
‘It still applies here doing something criminally stupid and reckless, but happily causing no harm.
‘He is an immature young man yet to come anywhere close to full maturity and understanding – rehabilitation is the key.’
When asked if there was anything he wished to say, the teenager said he was ‘really sorry’ and asked to be given a chance.
District Judge Shanta Deonarine said the two offences were ‘so serious that no other sentence is appropriate other than a custodial sentence’.
She said: ‘In relation to harm I have to concede there was no physical harm.
‘In relation to psychological harm even the impact of watching that would be enough for people to feel quite mentally unsure and a little bit frightened walking in shopping centres.’
She added: ‘It was an intentional, deliberate act – throwing a heavy object.
It landed with a loud thud and just narrowly missed shoppers who were walking on the ground floor
‘You didn’t throw a bit of paper, didn’t screw up a sponge-ball and just chuck it over and see what happened – this was a heavy object.
‘It weighed at least 15kg, it was certainly enough for you to lift on your own – it was not a sofa, more of a sofa stool or a pouffe.
‘There were people underneath – I have counted how many people, at least four people – it misses one of them narrowly, that person looks back and steps very quickly to the side.
‘That aggravates the offence, it was thrown from the top floor to the bottom floor and just the law of physics means it gathers more force on its way down.’
The judge said the offending was mitigated by the fact he was ‘intellectually a low functioning individual with impaired intellectual ability’.
The teenager was handed an eight month detention and training order of which he will serve half in a secure training facility.
Judge Deonarine made no order for costs but imposed the standard surcharge of £41.
The 16-year-old glanced briefly at his parents in court before being taken downstairs by security staff.
His 15-year-old friend denies both charges and will stand trial on December 2.
