Tate Modern: Boy’s mum tried to climb over 10th-floor rail to rescue son, 6, after 100ft fall from viewing platform
THE mum of a six-year-old boy who was allegedly hurled 100ft from an art gallery balcony desperately tried to climb over the 10th floor railing to rescue her son, it has been claimed.
Witnesses recounted how they heard "primal screams" from the devastated mother as the chaotic scenes unfolded - with claims the teen accused of attempted murder is a mental patient who had slipped away from his minders.
The 17-year-old — who cannot be named for legal reasons — is said to have suffered from mental health issues and is usually only allowed out of a secure home with two carers, sources claimed.
He will today appear before Bromley Youth Court.
Mark Welte, a San Francisco writer, said he had heard "primal screams" just moments after the six-year-old was sent plunging from the viewing gallery to the fifth floor below.
He said: "Someone said someone had thrown a child over.
"I leapt up and looked over the rail and I did indeed see a child down below there.
"The child's mother then tried to climb the rail. I restrained her and pulled her back."
And tourists visiting the popular attraction yesterday claimed the suspect had been following families around.
Administration worker Nancy Barnfield, 47, said: "He had his hands behind his back the whole time, his back to the wall, just watching people. We walked away from him then immediately when he was out of sight a woman was screaming 'My son, my son' and people were grabbing him."
Horrified witnesses told how the child was snatched from his mother and thrown over a chest-high barrier at London’s Tate Modern on Sunday.
The boy — who is French and was on a family holiday — plummeted from a tenth-floor viewing deck to a fifth-floor roof on Sunday.
Last night he was “critical but stable” in a hospital intensive care unit following life-saving treatment.
'ODD BEHAVIOUR'
The suspect's odd behaviour was said to have distressed several trippers at the tourist attraction before the incident.
And one witness was claimed to have punched the suspect after watching the horror unfold - with police taking him to the bathrooms.
A former carer who worked with the alleged attacker last year told The Sun: “He’s one of the most difficult and challenging mental patients I’ve ever encountered.
"He is stockily built and gets angry when he is denied something that he wants or is told what to do.
“He’s not allowed out unless accompanied by at least two support staff.
“He’s also intelligent. I watched an edition of the TV quiz show The Chase with him once and he answered every single question correctly.
“Something must have gone seriously wrong at the Tate because he’s not allowed out unless accompanied by at least two support staff.
"There will have to be a serious inquiry into what he was doing there.”
The child's mother then tried to climb the rail. I restrained her and pulled her back
Mark Welte
Police were investigating whether the teenager absconded from his unit or bolted from staff escorting him on a day trip.
A youth — said by witnesses to have remained chillingly calm as the victim’s mother screamed hysterically — was arrested at the scene.
Police were investigating whether the teenager absconded from his unit or bolted from staff escorting him on a day trip.
A Met spokesman confirmed: “Mental health is being explored as a line of inquiry.”
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Det Chief Insp John Massey said: “We’re providing around the clock support to the little boy’s family as they wait for more news on his condition.
“At the moment, this is being treated as an isolated event with no distinct or apparent motive.
“There is no link between the victim and male arrested.”
The Tate Modern was the UK's most popular tourist attraction in 2018 after being visited 5.9 million times, according to the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions.
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