"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."
"He is an immature young man yet to come anywhere close to full maturity and understanding - rehabilitation is the key, Mr Tooley added."
A 16-year-old threw a 15-kilogram sofa over a glass barrier from the top floor of Westfield Stratford shopping centre on 1 March, landing where shoppers normally walk. A friend filmed the act as a viral prank. The teenager admitted throwing the sofa, said he intended to damage it, and accepted recklessness, claiming prior pranks of throwing objects from bridges and trains. Prosecutors warned of a realistic risk of life-changing injury. Defence counsel described him as immature and urged rehabilitation. The teenager apologised and asked for a second chance. A judge imposed an eight-month detention and training order.
Read at www.standard.co.uk
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