This shameful specimen named Jonty Bravery.
On Sunday 4th August 2019, Bravery entered the 10th floor viewing platform at Tate Modern. Unhappy with his social care support, he wasn’t there for the view, he wanted to kill a child.
A French couple, sightseeing in London with their 6 year old son, had just finished a picnic by the Thames. At the Tate viewing platform, their excited boy briefly skipped ahead of them towards the balcony.
In one swift movement, the heavily built Jonty scooped up the boy and flung him headfirst over the railings to a 100ft (30m) drop.
The parents panicked, the mother hadn’t seen, or perhaps couldn’t process, what just happened. Eyewitness accounts detail her harrowing and increasingly desperate screams of “My son. Where is my son!?!”.
Once the unspeakable reality dawned on the mother she had to be restrained from trying to climb over the railings to get to her boy.
The father thought it must be a joke until he saw his son’s bloodied body five floors below.
What was Jonty doing at this point?
CCTV shows him smiling broadly at the mother, holding his hands in the air like he’d just scored a goal.
Miraculously the boy survived, but suffered life changing injuries, including a bleed on the brain and fractures to the legs, arms and spine.
A GoFundMe page set up to ensure the best medical round the clock care also offers periodic updates on the boy’s condition.
Unable to speak or eat/drink, and with much of his body broken – this poor boy endured constant pain for many months. Confused why he now could no longer talk or move, he regularly cried through the night.
The mother refers to the son as her ‘little knight’, his armour being the braces, supports and splints that covered his entire body.
Bravery was eventually sentenced to life, with a minimum term of 15 years in prison – a recent sentence reduction appeal was dismissed.
The latest update was that the now 8 year old boy can walk a little distance unaided, he can speak a little, and play with his toys.
Sadly, a full recovery appears to be unlikely.
UPDATE: Yes – Bravery has mental health issues and this is a complex case. If you lean towards diminished responsibility please read the Judge’s sentencing statement linked below – it might provide pause for thought.
Jonty planned this abhorrent act carefully, he understood and revelled in its cruelty. The presiding Judge decided on a prison sentence, in part to reflect Bravery’s culpability.
Update: May 2022: the boy just turned 9 and, while progressing well, continues to suffer along with his parents.