TATE PLUNGE

Who is Tate Modern fall attacker Jonty Bravery?

MENTALLY ill and violent teen Jonty Bravery, who threw a six-year-old boy from Tate Modern, has been told he "may never be released" after being caged for attempted murder.

His victim survived the 100ft (30metre) fall, but suffered life-changing injuries - including a bleed on the brain and multiple broken bones - and remains in a wheelchair. 

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Jonty Bravery, 18, pleaded guilty to attempted murderCredit: AFP

Who is Jonty Bravery?

Jonty Bravery was on bail for assaulting and racially abusing a carer at the time he hurled a French boy off the Tate Modern viewing gantry in 2019.

Bravery, now aged 18, admitted attempted murder and has now been jailed for at least 15 years.

Sentencing Bravery, of Ealing in West London, Old Bailey judge Mrs Justice McGowan said on June 26: "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."

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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."

After being nabbed by cops, the teen told officers he had travelled to the London gallery on August 4, 2019, with the intention of hurting someone so he could be on the TV news that evening.

He said: "I wanted to be on the news, who I am and why I did it, so when it is official no-one can say anything else."

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Bravery then said he heard voices tell him he had to hurt or kill people and wanted to prove a point "to every idiot" who said he didn't have mental health issues.

Bravery appearing at the Old BaileyCredit: PA:Press Association

What happened at the Tate Modern?

The Old Bailey was told that Bravery was seen wandering about the Tate's viewing platform before picking up his victim and throwing him over the edge.

He spent at least 15 minutes stalking potential victims before "scooping" a six-year-old boy up and over the railings as the youngster skipped slightly ahead of his family.

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The six-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, suffered a bleed to the brain, fractures to his spine and broken legs and arms following the fall.

His distraught mum screamed "my son, my son" and tried to climb over the 10th floor railing to go to his aid.

The boy was visiting London with his family at the time.

Bravery then approached a member of staff, explaining: "I think I've murdered someone, I've just thrown someone off the balcony."

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CCTV footage captured Bravery backing away from the railings.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer told the Old Bailey: "He can be seen to be smiling, with his arms raised. At one point, he appears to shrug and laugh."
Ms Heer told the court Bravery then told the boy's father: "Yes I am mad."

He was also heard to say, with a shrug: "It's not my fault, it's social services' fault," the lawyer added.

It later emerged that Bravery initially sought to carry out his grim attack at the Shard, Britain's tallest building, but baulked at the entry fee.

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The teen is understood to have slipped away from two carers when the horror attack took place.

Witnesses speaking at the time said he had followed families around with his hands behind his back before pouncing on the young boy as his mum's back was turned.

What did Jonty say in a 2018 recording?

A recording from autumn 2018, obtained following a joint investigation by BBC News and the Daily Mail, allegedly reveals Jonty Bravery telling his carers of a plan to kill someone.

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