London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 01, 2026

Boy thrown from London's Tate Modern gallery is starting to walk, family says

Boy thrown from London's Tate Modern gallery is starting to walk, family says

A boy who was thrown from a viewing platform at London's Tate Modern gallery last year has started to walk with a cane, his family has announced.
The French child, a tourist who was 6 at the time, was hospitalized with "catastrophic injuries" after being hurled from the 10th floor balcony by teenager Jonty Bravery in August 2019. Bravery, 17 at the time of the incident, was jailed for at least 15 years in June.

The injured boy's family said he is feeling less pain, has had his medication lowered and is trying to sing, in an update to well-wishers.

"Our son's memory is once again greatly affected. He no longer remembers what he did that day or what day it is," they said Monday in a statement posted on a fundraising page created to support the family.

"Despite everything, he continues to make efforts and progress: he begins to walk with a tetrapod cane while we hold him by the back of the coat for balance."

"He also has less pain, so the doctors were able to lower his medication. He tries to do more and more things with his left arm like holding his tube of toothpaste or his glasses case to close it."

"He continues to recover his breath. He still speaks very slowly, but now speaks word by word and no longer syllable by syllable," his family added. "He tries to sing and make up songs with rhymes. And he was able to start using the blowpipe with the rehabilitators to continue improving his breathing."

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, suffered life-changing injuries as a result of falling five floors from a 10th-floor viewing platform, including a bleed to his brain and a number of fractured bones.

In an initial hearing in August last year, a court heard that the child was visiting the modern art museum with his family on August 4 when he was approached by a stranger, who picked him up and threw him off the viewing platform.

At the hearing it emerged that the child's life was probably saved by the slant of the fifth-floor roof on which he landed.

Bravery was sentenced to at least 15 years in June. "You had intended to kill someone that day," Justice Maura McGowan said in her judgment. "The injuries you caused are horrific. That little boy has suffered permanent and life-changing injuries."

McGowan noted that a clinician said Bravery had an autism spectrum disorder and a personality disorder, which were "overlapping," but, she said: "Those conditions alone do not explain your offending and your general behavior."

She noted that Bravery searched the internet on the day and day before the attack "for information about killing people and what effect autism would have on sentencing."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Royal Mail Keeps First-Class Stamps at £1.80 and Second-Class at 91p
Church of England Prepares Formal Apology Over Historical Forced Adoptions
UK Competition Regulator Caps Veterinary Prescription Fees at £21
UK Aviation Authorities Roll Out Airspace Changes to Reduce Flight Delays
England Makes School Allergy Policies Mandatory Under Benedict’s Law
England and Wales Tighten Child Safeguarding Checks by Removing Supervision Exemption
Cornwall Geothermal Plant Begins Commercial Power and Lithium Operations
UK Inflation Holds Near 2.9% as Energy Costs Remain a Risk
UK Productivity Growth Averages 1.1% Over Two Years, Resolution Foundation Says
England Introduces Nationwide School Smartphone Ban and Uniform Limits
UK Gives Border Officers New Powers to Seize Migrants’ Mobile Phones
Green Party Wins First Westminster By-Election in Gorton and Denton
UK and EU Advance Gibraltar Border Deal Allowing Spanish Guards to Conduct Arrival Checks
Robert Jenrick Joins Reform UK After Losing Conservative Whip
Andy Burnham Faces First Prime Minister’s Questions After Labour Cabinet Overhaul
ScottishPower Recycles Nearly All Materials From Historic Hagshaw Hill Wind Farm
Millions Travel Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland for Summer Bank Holiday
Met Office Issues Yellow Thunderstorm Warnings Across Southern England
Four Arrested After Bank Holiday Stabbing Violence in Kettering
Scottish Chamber of Commerce Warns Tax and Business Costs Risk Holding Back Scotland
UK Government Launches Youth Employment Drive With Major Retailers
UK and Ukraine Advance AI and Defence Technology Partnership
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Moves to Exclude Serious Offenders From Early Release
Twelve Arrested After A66 Crash Kills Seven, Including Two Police Officers
Bank of England Governor Warns AI Investment Boom Could Trigger Global Market Correction
London Science Museum Ends Long-Running BP Sponsorship
Scottish Homeowners Prepare Valuation Challenges Over Proposed Mansion Tax
UK Prosecutors Consider Charges Against Undercover Police in Spycops Scandal
James Cleverly Leaves Shadow Cabinet to Run for London Mayor
Avanti West Coast Drivers Agree 3.6% Pay Rise, Averting Strike Action
Allianz Explores £5 Billion Takeover of British Roadside Assistance Group AA
UK Government Retreats From Plan to Unfreeze Personal Income Tax Threshold
Northern Ireland Leaders Press UK Government for Sustainable Funding Settlement
UK Health Agency Warns Nationwide Salmonella Outbreak Could Worsen
NHS Warns Autism and ADHD Assessment Costs Have Become Unsustainable
UK Rejects Moratorium on AI Data Centres Despite Energy and Water Concerns
Thames Water Creditors Offer Government Golden Share in £10 Billion Rescue Plan
UK Warns Defence Executives of Russian Assassination and Sabotage Threats
Bank of England Holds Interest Rate at 3.75% Amid Inflation Risks
UK Restricts Early Prison Release for Serious Offenders as Jails Near Capacity
Genetic Study Finds Medieval Britain’s ‘Conquest Man’ Had Scandinavian Origins
Kemi Badenoch Plans Conservative Frontbench Reshuffle After Cleverly Departure
Nissan Sunderland Plant Highlighted as Key Economic Anchor for North East England
UK Arts Report Finds Women Face Persistent Barriers to Career Progression
Private Equity Consolidation of UK Veterinary Practices Raises Consumer Cost Concerns
South West Water Ranked Worst in England for Environmental Performance
British Train Drivers Secure 3.6% Pay Rise, Averting Strike Threat
UK Prosecutors Consider Charges Against Officers in Undercover Policing Scandal
James Cleverly Leaves Conservative Shadow Cabinet to Run for London Mayor
Allianz Explores £5 Billion Takeover of British Roadside Assistance Group AA
×