Man who threw six-year-old off Tate Modern balcony sentenced for attacking nurses at Broadmoor

In 2020, Jonty Bravery was jailed for another 14 weeks after admitting attacking Broadmoor Hospital staff

A man who threw a six-year-old boy off a balcony in the Tate Modern has been jailed at Westminster Magistrates’ Court for 16 weeks for attacking two nurses at Broadmoor.

Jonty Bravery was found guilty of assaulting nurses Linda McKinlay and Kate Mastalerz after he kicked one in the thigh and “clawed” at the face of another, leaving her with blood dripping down her cheek, at Broadmoor Hospital in September 2024.

The 24-year-old was previously handed a life sentence for hurling a French boy from Tate Modern’s 10th-storey balcony in 2019 and is now being held at Broadmoor, a high-security psychiatric hospital, in Berkshire.

Sentencing him on Thursday, chief magistrate Paul Goldspring, who found Bravery guilty of two counts of assault, said that those who “care” for Bravery were the targets of his attacks.

Bravery is being held in Broadmoor high security hospital in Berkshire (PA)

The defendant, who refused to appear at the hearing by video link, was sentenced to 16 weeks, which will run concurrently with his 15-year minimum term. He has also been fined a total of £350.

The judge said it is “very unlikely” that Bravery will be deemed safe for release at the end of the 15-year term, “unless something significant changes”.

The nurses had been trying to stop Bravery, who has to be supervised by three members of staff at all times, from climbing a ledge to throw himself from it, a trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court previously heard.

Speaking of the Broadmoor attack, prosecutor Tom Heslop told the court: “At around 9.30 at night, Mr Bravery asked to go to the toilet. After he used the bathroom, he attempted to climb a ledge and throw himself from it.”

The nurses tried to restrain him, putting him on his mattress before turning him onto his back, Mr Heslop said.

Bravery “kicked out towards Ms Mastalerz”, hitting her in the thigh and “clawed across” Ms McKinlay’s face, leaving her with blood dripping down her cheek, the court heard.

Body-worn footage played to the trial showed the nurses struggling on the floor with Bravery before other staff rushed into the room to help.

Emergency crews attending the scene at the Tate Modern art gallery in 2019 (PA)

Ms McKinlay, a grandmother, told the court it was the first time she had been attacked at Broadmoor in her long career.

In 2020, Bravery was jailed for another 14 weeks after admitting to attacking Broadmoor Hospital staff. He had punched assistant Sarah Edwards in the head and face before pulling her hair. He then bit Maxwell King, a rehabilitation therapist assistant, on his finger when he came to help his colleague.

The family of a young boy who survived being thrown from the 10th floor of London’s Tate Modern art gallery has since said he has been able to achieve his goal of being able to run, jump and swim again.

He survived the 100ft (30m) fall in 2019 but suffered life-changing injuries, including a bleed on the brain and multiple broken bones.

In October, the family gave an update on a GoFundMe page, which the family set up for medical care and rehabilitation.

“Our little knight had long set himself the goal of being able to run, jump, and swim again. He can’t do it like other children his age, of course, but we can no longer describe what he does in any other way than by saying it’s running, jumping, and swimming,” the family said in a statement.

The boy’s memory skills are still limited, the family added, but they are “functional and still improving”, meaning he will acquire general knowledge at his own pace.