[9] The railway embankment upon which his body had been discovered was soon adorned with hundreds of bunches of flowers. The first involved downloading 57 indecent pictures of children on to his computer between February 2009 and February 2010. Ones well likely never fully understand or appreciate. "I don't think we went wrong at all," Venables maintained rather desperately in a newspaper interview she later gave. They rejected suggestions that he could have watched Child's Play Three, a film that his father had rented three weeks before James's death, which, it has been claimed, included scenes similar to those of the attack on the two-year-old. Or even tough answers, come to that. Child killer Jon Venables is expected to launch a new bid to be released from prison, it has been reported. [43], The boys, by then aged 11, were found guilty of Bulger's murder at the Preston court on 24 November 1993, becoming the youngest convicted murderers of the 20th century. In January 1987, the police were called to Susan Venables' home because the children (then seven, five and three) had been left alone for three hours. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of Terms and Conditions. He's quite bright and clever. Paradoxically, this concern with her appearance later endeared her to reporters in court. 2023 BBC. Was nurture (or more accurately a lack of nurturing) a more dominant force here than nature? He said a public debate about the parenting and family background of Thompson and Venables was required. [29][9][30] A forensic pathologist testified that Bulger died before he was struck by the train. He is one of those children that if you told him to put his hand in the fire, he would. The nurture side can exacerbate the condition, but this abnormality of brain function is primarily an inherited, DNA-caused condition. Seating being erected on The Mall outside Buckingham Palace, central London, ahead of King Charles IIIs Coronation. 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. When the officer arrived at his flat, Venables was attempting to remove or destroy the hard drive of his computer with a knife and a tin opener. [71] Ralph also remarried, and has three daughters by his second wife. The judge revealed that Venables had been living in Cheshire at the time of the offences, and that the case was dealt with by Cheshire police and Cheshire probation service. [146], In January 2019, the short film Detainment was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the 91st Academy Awards. Born evil: What drove James Bulger's underage killers? Thompson and Venables moved away from Liverpool after their sons' convictions eight years ago. "[36], In September 1999, Bulger's parents appealed to the European Court of Human Rights but failed to persuade the court that a victim of a crime has the right to be involved in determining the sentence of the perpetrator. The worldwide injunction was kept in force following their release on parole, so their new identities and locations could not be published. Mrs Venables said: 'I think it was because the class group was too big for them to go in . To find out what drove these two young children to such depravity, we must look, not only into the boys' backgrounds but also examine the wider issue of what motivates people in general - regardless of age - to carry out such abhorrent, deviant and wicked acts. Venables was The moment was caught on CCTV and became the defining image of a horrific case. A Merseyside detective said, "We went through something like 200 titles rented by the Venables family. Three months later, police cautioned him for possessing cocaine, and a requirement was added to his licence ordering him to address his alcohol and drug problems, the court was told. He has been educated. In 2005, when Venables was 23, his probation officer met another girlfriend of his, who was aged 17. A narrative emerged of two childhoods influenced not merely by the flaws of parents or the absence of a father, but by the environment in which these boys lived, a [145] The critical theorist Terry Eagleton introduced his 2010 book On Evil with the story of Bulger's murder. Vizard also said that Thompson was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after the attack on Bulger. She attended the trial at Preston crown court every day, brushed up and manicured, wearing a smart suit, high shoes and clutching her handbag with its gold chain. Profile: Jon Venables - BBC News It was not until February that it emerged Venables had been recalled to prison for breaching the conditions of his release. The ban relating to Venables was partially lifted on Friday at the Old Bailey after he was jailed for the offences under the 1978 Protection of Children Act. During the trial, the full horror of James' death emerged. The couple, who also have a 13- year-old son, who has learning difficulties, and a 9-year-old daughter, denied that Jon was bullied by his brother or that he watched violent horror films at home. The film is based on transcripts of the police interviews with Thompson and Venables after their arrests. He has had Christmas presents. He is far from it. The use of the footage was criticised by Bulger's mother, and Seven apologised. Weeping, she said: 'I wasn't actually on the railway track because there is a fence, but I went up the side. Ann Thompson had been deserted by her husband five years before the killing of Jamie Bulger, and in the week after he left the family home burned down in an accidental fire. 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". [4][21][32] When Venables was let out on parole, his psychiatrist, Susan Bailey, reported that "visiting and revisiting the issue with Jon as a child, and now as an adolescent, he gives no account of any sexual element to the offence. He has had more love and attention than a lot of children I know. "The Thompson report is a series of violent incidents," he reported, "none of them in itself enough to justify the kids being taken into care but the sum of them appalling. The boys joked about pushing Bulger into the canal. The Venables household was also fraught but contrastingly so. They were sentenced to indefinite detention at Her Majesty's pleasure, and remained in custody until a Parole Board decision in June 2001 recommended their release on a lifelong licence at age 18. The naive words of the paedo's parents have come to light once again as a new documentary is set to air on ITV 25 years after the horrific murder. Sorry, the video player failed to load. (Error Code: 100013) The chilling words of Jon Venables' parents have resurfaced 25 years after he killed Jamie Bulger . He says 'I know, Mum'. Venables fell into drug addiction and alcohol abuse following his release from prison in 2001, James was killed a month before his third birthday, On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry. For two children to do what they did, both Jon Venables and Robert Thompson must have been quite seriously disturbed. "It was very dark and I shouted down, shouted his name. AI chatbots 'may soon be more intelligent than us', Russia troop deaths hit 20,000 in five months - US, The 17 most eye-catching looks at the Met Gala, Cat-and-mouse chase with China in hotly contested sea, The burden of being cricket legend Tendulkar's son, 'My wife and six children joined Kenya starvation cult', Indian officials wife distraught as his killer is freed, On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry. calling for a public debate about "the home Social worker who looked after Upon release, both Thompson and Venables had lost all trace of their Scouse accent. Media descriptions of him as "quivering" and "vulnerable" compared with the "impassive" Thompson at Preston crown court in 1993 served to define him as the more impressionable of the two. Yet prior to the murder of the two-year-old, there were signs Venables, then 10, did not just follow. Sometimes, he led. Justice Secretary Jack Straw stated that Venables had been returned to prison because of "extremely serious allegations", and stated that he was "unable to give further details of the reasons for Jon Venables's return to custody, because it was not in the public interest to do so". In 2008, a new probation officer said that he spent "a great deal of leisure time" playing video games and on the Internet. [80][81] A memorial garden in Bulger's memory was created in Sacred Heart Primary School in his hometown of Kirkby, the school he would have been expected to attend had he not been murdered. Despite this, Bulger's mother, Denise, told how in 2004 she received a tip-off from an anonymous source that helped her locate Thompson. A lifetime ban was placed on reporting anything about either his or Thompson's whereabouts or their new identities after their release. Mr Venables said: "He wouldn't watch horror. . If they breached the rules or were deemed a risk to the public, they could be returned to prison. 'I walked round for a couple of hours trying to find them. Home Secretary David Blunkett approved the decision, and they were released a few weeks later on lifelong licence after serving eight years. "What he's done is wrong so he needs to be punished. He said that on the day James was killed, when he went to the school in the afternoon to collect Jon he was told his son was missing. Bulger's family, along with many others, complained, and the game was subsequently withdrawn by its UK distributor, GSP. [57][58][59] The court also held that the Home Secretary's intervention had led to a "highly charged atmosphere", which resulted in an unfair judgment. But things were difficult. 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. They bunked off, they shoplifted, they were violent; all these pieces in a pattern that made up a pair of empty, broken young lives. ]]> The ban relating to Venables was partially lifted on Friday at the Old Bailey after he was jailed for the offences under the 1978 Protection of Children Act. [119], On 4 May 2011, it was reported that Venables would once again be given a new identity, following what was described as a "serious security breach", which revealed an identity that he had been using before his imprisonment in 2010; details of the breach could not be reported for legal reasons. 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. It was Jon Venables, not Robert Thompson, who had a record of violence, having attempted to throttle another boy at school. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers in cases like this. [21], Eventually, the boys arrived in Walton. Both boys had parents who had separated; each had difficulties with attendance, learning and behaviour at school. Thompson and Venables grew up in circumstances which had both striking similarities and profound differences. Jon Venables (left) and Robert Thompson (Image: PA) He was held at the Red Bank secure unit in St. Helens, Merseyside, which was not revealed until after he had been released. In the picture, it is Venables who is holding James's hand. [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. Hes denied parole on 27 July 2011. [4], The judge, Mr Justice David Bean, ruled that Venables's new identity could not be revealed, but the media were allowed to report that he had been living in Cheshire at the time of his arrest. AI chatbots 'may soon be more intelligent than us', Russia troop deaths hit 20,000 in five months - US, Palestinian hunger striker dies in Israel prison, The 17 most eye-catching looks at the Met Gala, The burden of being cricket legend Tendulkar's son, 'My wife and six children joined Kenya starvation cult', On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry. [72][73] The Observer revealed that both Venables and Thompson had passed A-Levels during their sentences. I would say he was provoked. It was alleged that he had downloaded 57 indecent images of children over a 12-month period to February 2010, and had allowed other people to access the files through a peer-to-peer network. "[35], The boys were each charged with the murder of James Bulger on 20 February 1993,[9] and appeared at South Sefton Youth Court on 22 February 1993, where they were remanded in custody to await trial. It seems the natural assumption. April 13, 2023. The storyline was to feature Loretta Jones and her friend Chrissy, who had been given new identities before arriving in the village, after being convicted of murdering a child at the age of 12. Was John Wayne Gacy assisted by accomplices? [117] In November 2010, a review of the National Probation Service handling of the case by David Omand found that probation officers could not have prevented Venables from downloading child sexual abuse material. After the trial, Mr Justice Morland laid the moral responsibility squarely with the parents. "Just TV programmes and little things remind me of the good times we had together . All rights reserved. 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". WebMurder of James Bulger 25 languages Tools James Patrick Bulger (16 March 1990 [2] 12 February 1993) was a two-year-old boy from Kirkby, Merseyside, England, who was Some of the images involved children as young as two years old and some showed the rape of young girls. Photograph: PA. [76] No significant publication or vigilante action against Thompson or Venables has occurred. The bullying and violence continued after his father left, with the brothers turning on themselves. These locations were not publicly known until after the boys' release. But at the age of 27, Venables finds himself back in the headlines and back behind bars having been jailed for two years after pleading guilty to charges of downloading and distributing indecent images of children. Police had even trained him in counter-surveillance after he was told he would have to "live and hold a lie" for the rest of his life. Had he gone on to lead such a life, that might have been the last the British public ever heard about Jon Venables. It is just heartbreaking.". [126], On 23 November 2017, it was reported that Venables had again been recalled to prison for possession of child sexual abuse imagery. He was also beaten and molested by the man. I feel so sorry for them. The reality is that the two ten-year-olds that lured, beat, tortured and murdered little Jamie Bulger back in February 1993 did so because of an uneasy and confusing mixture of reasons. [151], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}532633.6N 025735.5W / 53.442667N 2.959861W / 53.442667; -2.959861. [7], On 2 March 2010, the Ministry of Justice revealed that Venables had been returned to prison for an unspecified violation of the terms of his licence of release. I just think of James and his Dad and about all that fun with his little boy, like I had with Jon.". Suffice to say that the word evil is never far away from the names of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables. That much is clear. That's the thing that upsets me because obviously, where I was standing poor little James must have been not far . In court, Venables was the more emotional of the two defendants, crying openly and leaning against the shoulder of his social worker. He has had more love and attention than a lot of children I know. A few days later, Venables and Thompson were arrested and charged - the youngest people to be accused of murder in the 20th Century. Research into the James Bulger Murders Jon Venables and Robert Thompson. That being the case, the chances of both boys suffering from it is minimal. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. 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Later, a TV and games console were added, and in his teenage years he decorated the walls with prints of paintings by L.S. Were the duo shaped into monsters by their troubled upbringings? Venables was later charged with three offences. In the absence of hard information, appearances are sufficient cause for condemnation. . "[65] This was supported by the fabrication of passports, national insurance numbers, qualification certificates, and medical records. The Venables and Thompson families were at very different places on the spectrum of "dysfunctional" families: if the chain of causality between parental failings and juvenile homicide were so straightforwardly simple how many families should be regarded as pathological - potential producers of more child childkillers? Venables worked full-time in a job with anti-social hours, earning close to the minimum wage, the court heard. [94], Shortly before his 2001 release, when aged 17, Venables was alleged to have had sex with a woman who worked at the Red Bank secure unit where he was held. In September 2020, he was denied parole. Does brain chemistry have a role to play, as well as contributions from various environmental factors? [70] Denise married Stuart Fergus, with whom she had two sons. 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. "[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". He had been tortured - beaten with bricks and an iron bar. He would go to bed. [4] Both boys were reported to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, and Venables in particular told of experiencing nightmares and flashbacks of the murder. The author Blake Morrison obtained notes from an NSPCC case conference on the Thompson family. [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] One of the boys later revealed that they were planning to abduct a child, lead him to the busy road alongside the shopping centre, and push him into the oncoming traffic. He called for a public debate about the wider ramifications of the crime and trial, saying that: 'The home background, upbringing, family circumstances, parental behaviour and relationships were needed in the public domain so that informed and worthwhile debate can take place for the public good in the case of grave crimes by young children.'. The parents themselves are not murderers, but whatever blame attaches to them has been abundantly punished. [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. You know, we just try and help him as best we can to try to come to terms with things. [102], Bulger's mother, Denise Fergus, said she was angry that the parole board did not tell her that Venables had been returned to prison, and called for his anonymity to be removed if he was charged with a crime. Thompson saw his mother and siblings subjected to severe, physical and sexual violence at the hands of his father. The writer Gitta Sereny later reported that police were aghast at her for "constantly repairing her make-up" during this dreadful time. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. But were these children, as so many have since hypothesised, born evil? [28], Police suspected that the boys had sexually assaulted Bulger, as his shoes, socks, trousers, and underpants had been removed. They were convicted after a 17-day trial and only then were their names and faces revealed. Jon Venables was just 10 years old when he and friend Robert Thompson murdered toddler James Bulger. During the trial, the full horror of James' death emerged. "He tends to be a bit hyperactive so his concentration did go a bit, but apart from that he is quite bright, no worries.". With Walton Lane Police Station across the road, they hesitated, then led Bulger up a steep bank to a railway line near the former Walton & Anfield railway station, close to Walton Park Cemetery. ', Kids Who Kill: Evil Up Close provides an all-encompassing view of these tragic stories, examined step-by-step with the testimonies from those closest to the.