Tate Modern attacker Jonty Bravery launches appeal to be moved from Belmarsh to Broadmoor

Jonty Bravery pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to attempted murder over the incident at the Tate Modern
PA
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A teenager who threw a six-year-old boy off the Tate Modern viewing platform is appealing against the decision to send him to prison to serve his life sentence.  

Jonty Bravery, 19, was jailed for life with a 15-year minimum term for the horrifying attack in August last year, when he picked up the young boy and flung him over the tenth-floor balcony.  

Bravery – who was seen smiling after the attack and remarked “yes, I am mad” – was warned by Mrs Justice McGowan that he may never been free again due to the danger he may pose to the public.  

Westminster magistrates court was told today that Bravery is mounting an appeal against the type of sentence that was passed, arguing he should be held at maximum security Broadmoor Hospital rather than in prison.  

“There is an outstanding appeal in relation to the Tate Modern incident, focusing on the correct sentence," said Andrew Bousfield, representing Bravery.  

“The issue there is whether he should be subject to a hospital order or subject to a normal prison disposal.”

Bravery’s appeal hearing is set for December 7, the court was told.  

Residents near the Tate Modern have lost their High Court appeal
REUTERS

Bravery, wearing a face mask under his chin, appeared at today’s hearing via videolink from HMP Belmarsh, where he has been held since he was sentenced in June.  

He is currently facing a seperate trial over allegations he attacked two staff members at a high-security psychiatric hospital at Crowthorne, Berkshire on January 29 this year.  

The alleged attacks happened when Bravery was being held in custody over the Tate Modern attack. 

The Tate Modern attack happened on August 4 last year, when Bravery headed to the gallery’s viewing gallery with the intention of throwing a stranger over the edge.  

After 15 minutes surveying potential victims, he grabbed the six-year-old boy who had briefly skipped ahead of his parents and, in a single motion, launched him over the edge.  

The youngster’s fall was partially broken by the side of the Tate Modern, but he suffered serious injuries including a bleed on the brain and spinal damage when he landed on a fifth-floor roof.  

Bravery, who had been allowed out unsupervised from supporting accommodation despite a spiralling history of violence, “sniggered” as he was surrounded angry Tate visitors and the boy’s hysterical parents.  

A court artist sketch of Jonty Bravery appearing at the Old Bailey in London
PA/ Elizabeth Cook

He later revealed he had been plotting the attack for weeks in a bid to get himself locked up and hoped the attack would “be on the news”.  

Mrs Justice McGowan heard expert evidence on how he could be sentenced before deciding to impose a life sentence in prison, shunning the option of detention in a secure hospital.  

Warning Bravery “you may never be released”, the judge found that he could receive mental health treatment within the prison setting but she believed there is “little prospect of rehabilitation”.  

Bravery denies the new charges – two counts of assault by beating – and is due to stand trial on December 18.  

News of the case only came to light today when it was moved to Westminster magistrates court, having previously been heard at a different courthouse. 

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