'Tombstone' prank boy sentenced

Kyle Farrell, 15, who already had an anti-social behaviour order,

pushed 14-year-old Luke Greenwood off a high sea wall as a "lark" last August.

The schoolboy hit his head on a concrete plinth and spent three weeks in hospital with a fractured skull, neck and rib, punctured lung, knee and hand injuries and a blood clot to the brain.

The boys had been "tombstoning" – jumping into the sea from a great height – in Bridlington during school holidays. Luke missed a month of school and lost all feeling in part of his hand, but is said to be making a good recovery.

Farrell was convicted of unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm at a trial last month.

District Judge Daniel Curtis said at Beverley Magistrates' Court when sentencing Farrell to a 12-month supervision order: "It's right to say that your life and that of Luke's changed in a blink of an eye that afternoon.

"He was very seriously injured.

""I fear you won't be the last young person to appear in court over this sort of act, where adrenaline junkies partake in this tombstoning activity which can lead to serious injury or death.

"The case centred around whether this tombstoning constituted a

criminal offence. I needed to decide at trial whether you had been reckless and I found that you had been."

The youth's parents sat beside him during the hearing.

Judge Curtis also ordered him to pay 250 compensation to his victim, although this will be paid by his unemployed mother.

The judge said: "I am loath to ask your mother, who is on benefits, to pay a large sum because as a 15-year-old you have no income other than 5 a week pocket money so she will have to pay.

"But there has to be compensation. I hope this is a debt that at some point in your life you can pay back to her."

The pair were among a group of friends who had gathered at a high sea wall in Bridlington, at around 8pm on August 13, some wearing wetsuits as they prepared to jump in.

Witnesses saw Farrell push the younger boy off the wall with both hands.

One 13-year-old boy said: "I saw Kyle push Luke. I've seen people get pushed in the water before.

"He said something like 'go on, get in' and then pushed him.

"When Luke started to turn around to see who it was, Kyle pushed him again and he fell."

After the incident, Farrell ran down the steps to the sea to help pull Luke from the water before fleeing the scene in panic.

Ed Cunnah, for Farrell, said the group had been "larking about" and added: "He did not intend for Luke to be injured, and he was extremely horrified by the consequences of the incident."

His client had an immense amount of remorse, had sleepless nights and would struggle to come to terms with the fact that larking about could have led to the death of his friend."

He said the family was forced to move house because of the incident.

Farrell originally denied the offence and claimed he could not remember pushing his friend because he had gone into shock.

After the sentencing hearing, Insp Mike Dring, of Humberside Police, said: "Some people do not understand the dangers of jumping off the sea wall. Not only are they putting themselves at risk, but they are also causing a nuisance to users in the area."

In a statement, Luke's mother thanked everyone who helped her son on the evening of the incident and staff and surgeons at Hull Royal Infirmary.

"Luke and I are trying to put this traumatic time behind us and focus on our future."