A teenager has admitted to attempted murder in his act of throwing a six-year-old boy off of a tenth-floor viewing platform at London’s Tate Modern TK this summer. The boy, who was of course lucky to survive at all, sustained life-changing injuries as a result of his fall. Jonty Bravery, the perpetrator, turned 18 in October; his name had previously been withheld since he was a minor. He has said that he committed the crime in order to appear on the news.
The six-year-old victim was unknown to Bravery, who, according to the BBC, “has autistic spectrum disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and [is] likely to have a personality disorder.”
Jonty Bravery has admitted to attempted murder. Photo courtesy London Metropolitan Police.
“This devastating and shocking incident at the Tate Modern on 4 August of this year changed the lives of Bravery’s young victim and his family forever,” said Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor Emma V. Jones in a statement. The boy fell five stories and landed on the roof of a lower floor.
Bravery will be sentenced on February 17, says CPS. His plea means that no trial will be necessary.
“Eye witness accounts and CCTV footage, along with Bravery’s admissions at the time of the arrest that his actions were pre-planned, meant he had little choice but to accept responsibility for his actions,” said Jones.
The boy was visiting from France with his family. He sustained multiple fractures to his spine, legs, and arms, as well as a bleed to the brain after falling 100 feet.