Teen who threw child 100ft off Tate Modern platform jailed for at least 15 years
26 June 2020, 11:49
A teenager who threw a 6-year-old boy off a viewing platform at the Tate Modern art gallery in London has been jailed for at least 15 years.
Eighteen-year-old Jonty Bravery of West London was heard telling witnesses it wasn't his fault and blaming social services after the attack.
The French child, who was visiting on holiday with his family, suffered life changing injuries.
The Old Bailey heard the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, spent more than a month in a UK hospital.
He was then discharged to a hospital in France and remains in a wheelchair.
The court heard he will require 100% care support until at least August 2022.
Old Bailey judge Mrs Justice McGowan said: "The fear he (the victim) must have experienced and the horror his parents felt are beyond imagination.
"You had intended to kill someone that day - you almost killed that six-year-old boy."
She said Bravery's autism spectrum disorder (ASD) did not explain the attack, and acknowledged expert evidence he presents "a grave and immediate risk to the public".
The judge added: "You will spend the greater part - if not all - of your life detained ... you may never be released."
6-Year-Old Boy Taken To Hospital By Air Ambulance After Being Thrown From Tate Modern Platform
Bravery told police he wanted to be "on the news" when questioned and claimed he was trying to highlight his treatment over a host of mental health issues.
He was arrested shortly after the incident and told police he had to prove a point "to every idiot" who said he had no mental health problems.
The teenager has autistic spectrum disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and was likely to have a personality disorder, has been held at Broadmoor Hospital since mid-October.
CCTV footage apparently showed Bravery looking over the edge of the art gallery balcony, 10 storeys up, before he committed the offence.
The court heard Bravery had been in supported accommodation under the care of Hammersmith and Fulham Social Services, with one-to-one supervision, and had a history of lashing out at staff.
Despite this, he was allowed to leave home, unsupervised, for up to four hours at a time.
Horrified witnesses at the London tourist attraction looked on when Bravery, then 17, grabbed the young victim by the limbs and hurled him over the edge.
After he threw his victim over the edge he found Tate staff and confessed: "I think I've murdered someone, I've just thrown someone off the balcony."
He told police he heard voices in his head telling him to kill or injure someone.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council said a serious case review had been ordered.
