Vile monster Jon Venables has applied to be released from prison and now the family of his victim have written to parole bosses asking to have their say as they fight to keep him locked up to “rot”
The heartbroken family of tortured toddler James Bulger want to “look in the eyes” of his killer and have vowed to do all they can to fight him being released back into society. Vile monster Jon Venables has applied to be released from prison and now the family of his tiny victim have written to top parole bosses asking to have their say as they fight to keep him locked up.
Venables is set to have his latest bid for freedom heard by the Parole Board next month with a two day hearing slated for the middle of October. The now 43-year-old, who tortured and murdered two-year-old James Bulger in 1993 when he was only 10, will have his case heard at an oral hearing more than two years after his previous appeal.
Venables was released on licence in July 2001 but was recalled to prison in February 2010 after indecent images of children were found on his computer. He was later freed a second time for the same offence in 2017.
In 2023, the Parole Board rejected Venables’ bid for freedom, concluding he still posed a danger to children and could go on to reoffend.
And now the heartbroken family of James have revealed how they have written to the Parole Board and asked to have their say on the impact he has had on their lives, saying they believe he should “rot” for the rest of his life behind bars.
A source close to the family said: ” The crime may have been done 30-odd years ago, but for us, it feel like yesterday.
“This case has dominated our lives, and this monster in particular will just not go away.
“It is clear he has not rehabilitated. Just look at his record. He isn’t “getting better”. He is a cancer to society and deserves to rot in prison until he dies.
“We will do everything in our power to make sure that happens. We will not give up. It does not matter how many years ago it happened. We will be a voice for James.
“And we want to look in his eyes as we say what he has done to us. The lives he has ruined. How his repeated offending and appeals refreshes the pain every time.”
Venables and Robert Thompson, also 10, snatched toddler James from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, in February 1993.
The vile pair led the toddler out of the Strand shopping centre in Bootle while his mother, Denise Fergus, was paying for shopping at a butchers..
Thompson and Venables had led James two and a half miles to a railway track where they beat him to death. James’ body was found two days later on a railway line. He had been stripped from the waist down, paint had been thrown in his eyes and he had been beaten to death with bricks and a metal bar.
The case horrified the nation. The boys were given lifelong anonymity orders and new identities. But Venables has stayed in the news all these years.
In February 2010 Venables was recalled to prison after indecent images of children were found on his computer and he breached his parole conditions by visiting Merseyside. In August 2013 he was released again with a second new identity.
In November 2017 he was recalled again and in February 2018 he was jailed for three years and four months for possessing child abuse images.
Venables had an application to be freed rejected in 2020 following an assessment of his case and in December 2023 a parole officers ruled not to release him because he continued to pose a danger to children and could go on to offend again.
Robert Thompson, unlike Jon Venables is not known to have reoffended since his release.
The parole board will again hear his pleas and the family of James Bulger have written to the Parole board – begging them to make the hearing public. A decision is expected in the coming days.
They also made an application for James’s mum Denise to be allowed to observe the hearing which has been granted.
Victims have been able to attend parole hearings held in private under reforms rolled out nationally in April as part of efforts to boost confidence in the justice system.
In a letter written to the Parole Board the family said “the prisoner should have to face up to his offending by way of a public hearing, especially given that he has committed further serious offences as an adult,” adding that “public scrutiny would help explain how risk is assessed and managed, supporting confidence in the parole system.”
They added that they consider Venables’ “further convictions as an adult to be an exceptional feature of the case, adding to the public interest in how the parole review is conducted. This supports the argument for a public hearing being in the interests of justice.”
The decision on the public appeal is expected on Monday.
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