UK teenager jailed for throwing 6-year-old boy off museum's balcony
The Old Bailey court in London heard during the course of a hearing this week that Jonty Bravery spent more than 15 minutes stalking potential victims at the busy tourist attraction in the UK capital.
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An autistic teenager, who threw a six-year-old boy 100-feet from the viewing platform of the Tate Modern museum in London, has been sentenced to at least 15 years in prison. The Old Bailey court in London heard during the course of a hearing this week that Jonty Bravery spent more than 15 minutes stalking potential victims at the busy tourist attraction in the UK capital. He targeted the boy, who cannot be legally identified as a minor after he briefly left his parents' side.
"The fear he (the victim) must have experienced and the horror his parents felt is beyond imagination,” said Justice Maura McGowan during sentencing on Friday. "You had intended to kill someone that day you almost killed that six-year-old boy," she said.
The boy, who was on holiday from France, fell on to a platform below while shocked witnesses, including his parents, challenged Bravery. The 17-year-old, from west London, admitted attempted murder at an earlier hearing in December last year. He was said to have a "big smile on his face" in the wake of the incident and told the boy's father, "yes I am mad." The judge warned Bravery he may never be released, adding that his autism spectrum disorder (ASD) did not explain the attack, and acknowledged expert evidence that he presents "a grave and immediate risk to the public".
The victim's family said in a statement that "there are no words to express what we're going through". "We have no prospects or plans for the future, other than being by his side," they said.
Metropolitan Police Detective Inspector Melanie Presley read a statement from the family outside court. In it, they said they have experienced "months of pain, fear, rehabilitation" as their boy continues to battle with the severe injuries sustained in the incident.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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