A teen who threw his girlfriend from a 25ft bridge in a jealous rage has been spared jail - despite leaving his victim paralysed from the chest down.
The 17-year-old victim will never walk again and has "no control over some of her natural bodily functions", Birmingham Crown Court heard on Friday.
The defendant, who has not been named for legal reasons, was sentenced to a two-year youth rehabilitation order after admitting one charge of wounding, Birmingham Live reports .
The pair crossed the canal bridge on their way home after a night out in Solihull on September 1, where the defendant, also 17, accused the victim of "unfaithfulness with a mutual friend" .
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He then "took her up in his arms" and threw her from the bridge and onto the "hard surface" of the river bank.
After seeing that the victim was "severely injured" and unable to get up, the jealous teen rushed down in an attempt to help her.
Passing sentence, Judge Philip Parker said: "You uttered deeply insulting words towards her. She was a teenager and was in a stage of her life when relationships could be transient.
"Your anger may have been heightened by some form of jealousy."
The judge described the injuries to the victim as "catastrophic and completely life-changing".
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He added: "This is as tragic as any human story can be. Her expectation of a healthy life, perhaps marriage with children of her own have been shattered.
"She has no true independence and has lost her previous life. She requires assistance from others. Financially this has cost her family a lot.
"No sentence that I am allowed by parliament to pass can ever compensate her for her loss or compensate her for her suffering."
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Judge Parker said the defendant's "learning difficulties and slow development" had been taken into account, as had his guilty plea.
Even if he had passed a custodial sentence, he said, it would "only have been a short one", under the sentencing guidelines.
Defence counsel Theresa Hunt said the last seven months had been "difficult" for her client, who has reportedly been prescribed medication in the wake of the incident.
