A 16-year-old boy has been jailed for eight months after throwing a 15kg sofa from a balcony at a busy shopping centre, narrowly missing shoppers.
The teen, who cannot be named, threw the blue chair down a 50ft drop at the Westfield shopping centre in East London on March 1.
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Both he and a friend were arrested for the dangerous prank after footage of the act went viral on social media.
The 16-year-old told officers during an interview that the terrifying act was ” not that deep.”
He would go on to claim that he and his pal regularly threw objects from bridges as part of bizarre and dangerous “pranks.”
The youngster admitted recklessly causing a public nuisance and criminal damage and was jailed for eight months over the stunt.
Clad in a black Nike t-shirt and assisted by a Somali interpreter the youth appeared at Stratford Youth Court earlier today.
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.
“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.
“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.”
The 16-year-old’s friend, 15, pleaded not guilty to both charges and will face trial on December 2.
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Mark Tooley, representing the reckless 16-year-old, said he had been “showing off.”
“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 from the dock the teenager said he was “really sorry” and asked to be given a chance.
District Judge Shanta Deonarine said the offences were so serious that “no other sentence is appropriate other than a custodial sentence.”
She acknowledged that there was no physical harm caused by the act but said: “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.”
The judge concluded that it was an intentional and deliberate act and said that the plummeting sofa had narrowly missed a punter below which aggravated the offence.
She went on to hand down an eight month detention and training order half of which will be served in a secure training facility.
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