Teen locked up for throwing pole

A teenager has been locked up for his part in throwing a 20ft pole from a bridge onto a busy Black Country road.

Michael Edwards was sentenced to 18 weeks behind bars after being found guilty of causing a danger to motorists after he and three friends dropped the metal object onto the A41 Expressway in West Bromwich in the early hours of the morning.

Edwards, of Jubilee Street in West Bromwich, was part of a group of four, responsible for picking up the pole before dropping it onto the carriageway from a footbridge near to the All Saints island in the town at around 12.30am on February 24. The three youths cannot be named.

Two of the teenagers, aged 16 and 17 pleaded guilty to the offence, but Edwards and another 16-year-old denied the charge claiming they had not been holding it when it was dropped onto the road. But they were both convicted following a trial on July 20 for being part of the "joint enterprise" which carried out the act.

Mrs Clare Davis, prosecuting, said the group were seen walking around West Bromwich town centre on the night of the offence generally causing a nuisance, and were tracked by CCTV operators, who watched them walk into the town's police station.

Footage showed them leave the station before going out of shot around the back and reappearing carrying a 20ft pole which they carried to a footbridge across the dual carriageway. "The group can be clearly seen to throw the pole over the bridge onto the Expressway," she said.

"The pole itself is not particularly heavy but is extremely long.

"Had it not been in the early hours of the morning when the roads were quiet it could have caused serious damage or fatality to road users."

The 18-year-old also pleaded guilty to a separate charge of breaching a suspended sentence order, imposed for an unrelated offence, after failing to attend two probation sessions ordered by the court.

Mr Baldev Mehay, defending, said the Edwards had been drinking at the time of the offence and was easily led by others so just went along with it.

He added in relation to the breach offence, Edwards had missed the two sessions because he had been ill for one and turned up late for the second.

Magistrates described throwing the pole onto the road as "appalling" and a very serious matter which caused a real risk to the public.

They activated a 12-week suspended sentence for the breach offence and also ordered Edwards to serve 18 weeks concurrently for his part in throwing the pole onto the road.