[8] The boys were playing truant from their local primary school, which they did regularly. In November 2017, she had published an alleged photograph of Venables on Facebook, with the advice "share this as much as possible". He has had his holidays like everyone else. But he also laid blame with their parents, calling for a public debate about "the home background, upbringing, family circumstances, parental behaviour and relationships" of children who commit "grave crimes". . The first involved downloading 57 indecent pictures of children on to his computer between February 2009 and February 2010. [77] In April 2007, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 confirmed that the Home Office had spent 13,000 on an injunction to prevent a foreign magazine from revealing the new identities of Thompson and Venables. I have lost my son as well. He always had plenty of friends. he lived a very terrible childhood. "[9] The trial judge Mr. Justice Morland stated that exposure to violent videos might have encouraged the actions of Thompson and Venables; this was disputed by David Maclean, the Minister of State at the Home Office at the time, who said that police had found no evidence linking the case with "video nasties". James Bulger's brothers Sign up to our newsletter to receive email updates on new series, features, and more from your favourite Crime+Investigation shows: Is climate change killing Australian wine? VideoOn board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry, I didnt think make-up was made for black girls, Why there is serious money in kitchen fumes. 'I even went up to the railway line because I knew the other boy had a den up there and was on the railway nearly all the time.'. There are many families where the parents are struggling to cope, where the children have behavioural problems. Mr Venables said it had never crossed their minds that the video pictures from the security cameras in the shopping centre from which James went missing showed their own son. Venables had contacted his probation officer in February 2010, fearing that his new identity had been compromised at his place of work. James Bulger killer Robert Thompson vanished without Bulger's family, along with many others, complained, and the game was subsequently withdrawn by its UK distributor, GSP. "[4], The police quickly found low-resolution video images of Bulger's abduction from the New Strand Shopping Centre by two unidentified boys. These are the ugly manifestations of a society that is becoming unworthy of that name. The moment was caught on CCTV and became the defining image of a horrific case. Was John Wayne Gacy assisted by accomplices? "He tends to be a bit hyperactive so his concentration did go a bit, but apart from that he is quite bright, no worries.". They were found guilty on 24 November, making them the youngest convicted murderers in modern British history. After the trial, Mr Justice Morland laid the moral responsibility squarely with the parents. Venables worked full-time in a job with anti-social hours, earning close to the minimum wage, the court heard. Vizard replied, "If the issue is on the balance of probabilities, I think I can answer with certainty." A lifetime ban was placed on reporting anything about either his or Thompson's whereabouts or their new identities after their release. Social worker who looked after He is not a little urchin boy. In the picture, it is Venables who is holding James's hand. [30] The full trial opened at Sessions House, Preston, on 1 November 1993,[9] conducted as an adult trial with the accused in the dock away from their parents, and the judge and court officials in legal regalia. [111] He pleaded guilty to charges of downloading and distributing child pornography, and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. He was given a new name, a job and a flat on his release to try to ensure his security and give him an "ordinary" life. [37] These aspects were later criticised by the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled in 1999 that they had not received a fair trial by being tried in public in an adult court. [50] The High Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights have since ruled that although the parliament may set minimum and maximum terms for individual categories of crime, it is the responsibility of the trial judge, with the benefit of all the evidence and argument from both prosecution and defence counsel, to determine the minimum term in individual criminal cases. The Old Bailey also heard that in 2008 Venables had posed as a mother offering to sell her daughter for sex during three online chats. "[46] David Omand later criticised this decision and outlined the difficulties created by it in his 2010 review of the probation service's handling of the case. [78][79], On 14 March 2008, an appeal to set up a Red Balloon Learner Centre in Merseyside in memory of James Bulger was launched by his mother and Esther Rantzen. When a child kills, we need to look at the parents for an explanation. Could this factor have been at play here? He has had security with loving parents and a loving brother and sister.". Jon Venables was just 10 years old when he and friend Robert Thompson murdered toddler James Bulger. The suspicion was that it must have been their lack of care, love, or firm parental control that led to James Bulger's torture and death on a railway line. In the absence of hard information, appearances are sufficient cause for condemnation. 'Jon was fearful, weak, and he was provoked': Parents of boys He's quite bright and clever. The game's developer, Legacy Interactive, released a statement in which it apologised for the image's inclusion in the game; according to the statement, the image's use was "inadvertent", and took place "without any knowledge of the crime, which occurred in the UK, and was minimally publicised in the United States". "I don't think we went wrong as parents at all. In 2018, the tranquillity of the Isle of Bute was rocked by an extremely barbaric murder, the after-effects of which still reverberate today. [137] Although she had not seen the play, Denise Fergus denounced it as a work that was "just designed to try and shock people and grab publicity" and that "anyone who would stoop so low as to use my son's death as a subject for comedy is sick and pathetic. [10][23] In the aftermath of their arrest, and throughout the media accounts of their trial, the boys were referred to as "Child A" (Thompson) and "Child B" (Venables). Child killer Jon Venables is expected to launch a new bid to be released from prison, it has been reported. Both Venables and Robert Thompson An undated photo [48] This campaign was successful, and Howard announced in July 1994 that the boys would be kept in custody for a minimum of fifteen years,[48][49] meaning that they would not be considered for release until February 2008, by which time they would be 25 years old. James Bulgers death. calling for a public debate about "the home The female staff member was suspended for sexual misconduct; she never returned to work at Red Bank. . Or could, perhaps, other factors have been at play? James Bulger Case Paradoxically, this concern with her appearance later endeared her to reporters in court. Venables faced two charges under the Protection of Children Act 1978. [127] On 5 January 2018, Venables was charged with unspecified offences relating to indecent images of children. British children Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were just 10 when they tortured and killed two-year-old James Bulger in 1993. For domestic violence to be the only or prime driver would require a narrative whereby Thompson was the ringleader who commanded Venables to obey him. [24][31] When Thompson and Venables were questioned about this aspect of the attack by detectives and a child psychiatrist, Eileen Vizard, the pair were reluctant to give details. [124][125] On 3 September 2013, it was reported that Venables had been released from prison. [9] In March 2010, a call was made by England's Children's commissioner Maggie Atkinson to raise the age of criminal responsibility from ten to twelve. [123] On 4 July 2013, it was reported that the Parole Board for England and Wales had approved the release of Venables. THE NEW identity given to Jon Venables, one of the two killers of two-year-old Jamie Bulger, had been uncovered before the authorities discovered that he had He denied having had any films that were not mainstream, or that were pornographic, in the house. "[45] Morland sentenced them to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, with a recommendation that they should be kept in custody for "very, very many years to come", recommending a minimum term of eight years. He is one of those children that if you told him to put his hand in the fire, he would. WebBackground Crime Sentencing Robert Thompson . It was on 12 February 1993 that two-year-old James Bulger was snatched from the New Strand Centre in Bootle, on Merseyside, while his mother Denise was shopping. If they breached the rules or were deemed a risk to the public, they could be returned to prison. The author Blake Morrison obtained notes from an NSPCC case conference on the Thompson family. Venables was [4], Up to 500 protesters gathered at the Magistrates' Court in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton during the boys' initial court appearances. He has never really been what you would call a sagger off school (a truant). On 20 September 2008, he was held on suspicion of affray over a street fight with a man who claimed Venables had attacked his girlfriend. Our feelings haven't changed towards him. 'James would be 18 now the pain of losing him will never go away', Michael Jackson's Heal The World released to support new Liverpool James Bulger centre for bullied children, James Bulger's father on surviving 20 years of grief, Jon Venables: how attitudes towards criminality have changed and hardened, Legal dilemma of granting child killers anonymity, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_James_Bulger&oldid=1151980385, February 1993 events in the United Kingdom, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the ODNB, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 27 April 2023, at 12:23. ", Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. That assessment concluded that Venables would face the highest possible risk of being attacked if his name was either published in the media or known elsewhere in society.

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