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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Bradley Jolly

Lawyer threw himself at window to prove it was unbreakable but fell 24 floors to death

A top lawyer threw himself at his office window to try to demonstrate the glass was unbreakable - but plunged 24 floors to his death.

With today being the 30th anniversary of Garry Hoy's death, Mirror looks back at the tragedy, which occurred as the 38-year-old man attempted to prove to a group of students in the office the windows were sturdy.

But, after he hurled himself at one, the window frame gave way - not the glass itself - and the corporate and securities law specialist fell to the ground in Toronto, Canada.

He was a highly-regarded employee at Holden Day Wilson, which had an office on the 24th floor of a skyscraper, built in 1969, in the city's Financial District.

Colleagues who shared the office received professional counselling after the tragedy (Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Mr Hoy had thrown himself against the window before - and successfully highlighted its strength. However, on July 9, 1993 - 30 years ago on Sunday - the tragedy devastated the city. It happened in a small conference room adjacent to a boardroom where a reception was being held for new articling students.

Three years later, Holden Day Wilson closed - then the largest law firm demise in Canada. Mr Hoy's death contributed to this, experts said. Speaking at the time of the tragedy, the firm's spokesman mentioned that the glass, in fact, did not break, but popped out of its frame, leading to Mr Hoy's death.

"It was a totally freak accident," Peter Lauwers, managing partner of Holden Day Wilson, said at the time.

Bob Greer, a structural engineer, told the Toronto Star: "I don't know of any building code in the world that would allow a 160-pound [73 kg] man to run up against a glass and withstand it."

Paying emotional tributes to Mr Hoy, peers called him one of the "one of the best and brightest" at the firm. Reports at the time claimed Mr Hoy had performed the stunt many times in the past, having previously bounced harmlessly off the glass.

Police and the coroner treated the death as misadventure.

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