Jonty Bravery, who threw boy from Tate Modern, guilty of attack on nurses at Broadmoor Hospital
A man convicted of throwing a six-year-old boy off a balcony at the Tate Modern art gallery has been found guilty of attacking two nurses.
Jonty Bravery, 24, was sentenced to at least 15 years in prison for throwing the child from the 10th floor of a London gallery in 2019. The boy survived the fall but suffered a brain hemorrhage and multiple broken bones. In October, his family said he had only recently been able to run, jump and swim again.
Bravery, who is autistic, is being held at Broadmoor, a high-security psychiatric hospital.
He was found guilty of assaulting nurses Linda McKinlay and Kate Mastalerz in September 2024 during a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, which he chose not to attend.
The court heard the man kicked a nurse in the buttocks and “clawed” another in the face, leaving blood dripping down her cheek.
Prosecutor Tom Heslop said Bravery had to be monitored “24 hours a day, seven days a week” by three staff and was kept in a room with only a mattress.
“Around 9.30 at night, Mr Bravery wanted to go to the toilet,” he said. Mr Heslop said Bravery then tried to harm himself. Mr Heslop said nurses tried to restrain him by placing him on his bed before turning him onto his back.
The court heard Bravery “kicked towards Ms Mastalerz”, striking her in the thigh. He also “clawed” Ms McKinlay in the face, leaving blood dripping down her cheek, the prosecutor said.
Body footage played on the pitch shows nurses tackling Bravery on the floor before other staff rushed into the room to help.
A panicked staff member can be heard shouting, “For Christ’s sake, do something.”
Miss McKinlay told the court this was the first time she had been attacked at Broadmoor in her long career.
He said he restrained Bravery because “we didn’t want him to hurt himself.” He continued: “He was screaming, yelling and kicking. So we shouted for help.”
When asked if she was injured, the grandmother said, “He attacked my face, scratched my face. My eyes and face were scratched. I was very shaken afterwards.”
Ms. McKinlay was taken to hospital for treatment.
Fellow nurse Ms Mastalerz said she started “screaming for help” when Bravery started kicking and scratching. He had bruising on his thigh and said it was “a very stressful situation.”
Finding Bravery guilty of both charges, chief judge Paul Goldspring said Bravery had “gone too far”. He adjourned sentencing until January 8 and asked for an update on Bravery’s current mental health condition.
In 2020, Bravery was jailed for a further 14 weeks after admitting assaulting staff at Broadmoor Hospital. He punched nursing assistant Sarah Edwards in the head and face before pulling her hair, and bit rehabilitation therapist assistant Maxwell King on the finger after he came to his colleague’s aid.
