Jonty Bravery: Teenager who threw boy 100ft from Tate Modern platform jailed for at least 15 years

An autistic teenager who threw a six-year-old boy 100ft (30 metres) from the Tate Modern viewing platform has been sentenced to at least 15 years in prison.

The Old Bailey previously heard that Jonty Bravery spent more than 15 minutes stalking potential victims at the London tourist attraction.

He targeted the boy, who cannot be identified because of his age, after he briefly left his parents’ side.

Image: The boy fell onto a platform below while shocked witnesses, including his parents, challenged Bravery

The judge warned Bravery he may never be released, while the victim’s family said in a statement that “there are no words to express what we’re going through.

“We have no prospects or plan for the future, other than being by his side,” they said.

Bravery, who was 17 at the time of the attack in August, was said to have “scooped [the victim] up and, without any hesitation, carried him straight to the railings and threw him over”.

The boy fell on to a platform below while shocked witnesses, including his parents, challenged Bravery.

Bravery, from Ealing in west London, admitted attempted murder.

He was said to have a “big smile on his face” in the wake of the incident and told the boy’s father “Yes I am mad.”

:: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

Sentencing Bravery, 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.”

Met Police detective inspector Melanie Presley read a statement from the family outside court after the sentencing.

In it, they said they have experienced “months of pain, fear, rehabilitation” and “hours and days spent without talking, without moving, without eating”.

The court heard he was under one-on-one supervision with Hammersmith and Fulham Social Services at the time of the attack, but was allowed to go out unaccompanied for four-hour periods.

The victim and his family were on holiday from France.

He suffered life-threatening injuries in the fall and spent more than a month in hospital in the UK, the court heard.

The boy was then discharged to a hospital in France and remains in a wheelchair.

He will need 100% care support until at least August 2022, the court was told.