Jonty Bravery gets life in prison for tossing boy from Tate Modern balcony
The British teen who tried to kill a 6-year-old boy by hurling him off the 10th floor of London’s Tate Modern gallery was sentenced Friday to life in prison — and was warned he may never get out.
Jonty Bravery — who was just 17 at the time of the near-fatal attack last August — was ordered to spend a minimum of 15 years before he is eligible for parole after admitting attempted murder.
“You will spend the greater part — if not all — of your life detained,” Judge Maura McGowan told the teen, who is now 18, at London’s Old Bailey, according to the Independent.
“You may never be released,” she said.
Bravery — who laughed after the attack, and said he wanted to get on the TV news — remains a “grave danger to the public,” the judge said.
The London teen, who has an autism spectrum disorder, followed proceedings via video link. He showed no emotion as the sentence was passed, Agence France-Presse said.
“You choose a small child because of his vulnerability,” McGowan told him, calling the ordeal “beyond imagination” for the boy and his parents, according to the UK paper.
“You had intended to kill someone that day — you almost killed that 6-year-old boy,” she said of his 100-foot fall.
“That little boy has suffered permanent and life-changing injuries.”
Family members of the French victim — who was not named because of his age — were not in court for the sentencing, but police read a statement on their behalf.
“Words cannot express the horror and fear that his actions have brought upon us and our son who is now wondering why he is in hospital,” they said of the “unspeakable” attack.
“How can someone explain to a child that someone deliberately tried to kill him?”
Their son faces “many years” of rehabilitation and physiotherapy, is in a wheelchair, has splints on his left arm and both legs, and has trouble sleeping. Family life has been put on hold, they said.
“He is in pain. There are no words to express what we are going through,” the said.
With Post wires