James Bulger’s mother and father blast Jon Venables for placing them by ‘unimaginable trauma’ in his newest bid for freedom
James Bulger‘s parents have blasted Jon Venables and the Parole Board for forcing them to reopen ‘unimaginable trauma’ after the twisted paedophile was granted another full parole hearing.
Venables was just 10 years old when he and Robert Thompson were found guilty of abducting, torturing, and murdering two-year-old James Bulger in Merseyside in 1993.
They were sentenced to indefinite detention and remained in custody until 2001 when they were release on a life licence at age 18 with lifelong anonymity and new identities.
Thompson has never reoffended, but Venables, now 43, was sent back to prison in 2010 for possessing child pornography images on his computer and was released on parole in 2013.
In 2017, he was again found with more child pornography images and a ‘paedophile manual’ and was sent back to prison where he remains to this day.
The warped killer had an application to be freed rejected in 2020 following an assessment, and was last refused parole in 2023 after the board concluded he still posed a danger to children and could go on to reoffend.
But the depraved paedophile now has another chance to convince the board he should be released again after it granted him a parole hearing in September.
The decision has left James Bulger’s mother Denise Fergus struggling with ‘uncertainty and distress’.
James Bulger (pictured), aged two, was abducted, tortured and beaten to death by 10-year-olds Jon Venables and Robert Thompson in Bootle, Merseyside, in February 1993 in a horrific crime which shocked the nation
Aged 11, Thompson and Venables (both pictured) became the youngest ever to be convicted of murder after James’ body was found on a railway track two days later. They were both convicted in 1993 and given life sentences before being released on a life licence aged 18
The decision to grant Venables a parole hearing has left James Bulger’s mother Denise Fergus struggling with ‘uncertainty and distress’
Kym Morris, the spokeswoman for Ms Fergus, said: ‘Once again, Denise has been forced to confront a process that reopens unimaginable trauma.
‘Denise was hoping for a redirection, with no hearing granted allowing her a measure of peace and protection from further distress.
‘That hope has now been taken away.’
Ms Fergus and her ex-husband Ralph had their applications to attend the hearing, in which they will both deliver victim impact statements, granted by the board.
Ms Morris said: ‘While this provides her with access to the process, it does not lessen the emotional burden she is being asked to carry, nor does it offer the reassurance or closure she so desperately deserves.
‘Instead, Denise now faces yet another prolonged period of uncertainty and distress, with limited clarity around how decisions are being reached or how ongoing risks are being assessed.’
Due to the anonymity order, Venables’ face will be hidden during the hearing and his voice will be changed using distortion technology. He has also been given the option of giving evidence in writing from his cell.
After reviewing written submissions from prison workers, counsellors, psychiatrists and impact statements from members of James’ family, including Ms Fergus, Parole Board officials decided it was fair to grant Venables an oral hearing.
Venables and Thompson became the youngest convicted murderers in modern British history for their brutal killing of James.
Two-year-old James had been holding his mother’s hand as she shopped at New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, Merseyside, on February 12, 1993 (Pictured: James and his mother Denise)
CCTV footage showed James Bulger being led out of the New Strand Shopping Centre by Venables and Thompson
James Bulger (pictured) was abducted and tortured by Venables and Thompson before they left him to be run over by a train on railway tracks
Two-year-old James had been holding his mother’s hand as she shopped at New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, Merseyside, on February 12, 1993.
When Denise momentarily let go off her son’s hand while she paid for items in a butcher’s shop, Venables and Thompson struck.
They were seen on CCTV luring him away from his mother and taking him by the hand as they led him out of the shopping centre.
The sick pair then took little James to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, just 400 metres away, where they joked about pushing him in and dropped him on his head.
After walking around the town with the terrified toddler, the boys took him to a railway line and tortured him.
They threw paint they had shoplifted in his eyes, kicked him, stamped on him, and threw bricks and stones at him.
The boys then stuffed batteries into the toddlers mouth and anus, before dropping a 10kg railway fishplate on him, resulting in ten fractures to his skull.
In an attempt to make his death appear accidental, they laid James down on the railway tracks and weighted his head down with rubble.
A train eventually struck and killed the toddler after Venables and Thompson had fled the scene and his body was found two days later.
