During the trial, the full horror of James' death emerged. What happened to 'forgotten' James Bulger killer Robert Thompson When a child kills, we need to look at the parents for an explanation. [9] At the trial, the lead prosecution counsel Richard Henriques successfully rebutted the principle of doli incapax, which presumes that young children cannot be held legally responsible for their actions. Cases of children and teenagers who murder are shocking and terrible, but unfortunately they do happen. ', 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. The writer Gitta Sereny later reported that police were aghast at her for "constantly repairing her make-up" during this dreadful time. After they left the scene, his body was cut in half by a train. Kylian Mbapp parents: Meet Fayza Lamari, Wilfried Mbapp On 12th February 1993, two-year-old James Bulger was brutally murdered by two eleven-year-old boys. Both boys were said to have had difficult home lives and both had been playing truant from school on the day of the killing. She said an educational psychologist had diagnosed hyperactivity in her son, who was bullied at his previous school. The evidence is even less clear. motivated the murder of James More horrific still was the revelation that his killers were only children themselves, 10 year olds Jon Venables and Robert Thompson. The use of the footage was criticised by Bulger's mother, and Seven apologised. The first involved downloading 57 indecent pictures of children on to his computer between February 2009 and February 2010. Jon Venables is not dead: Officials quash rumours about James Robert said 'If you tell anybody I'll get my big brother to batter you up'. 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. Audrey Gillan, who has reported the story from the start, examines the case against their mothers, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. [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. [4] Laurence Lee, who was the solicitor of Venables during the trial, later said that Thompson was one of the most frightening children he had seen, and compared him to the Pied Piper. The moment was caught on CCTV and became the defining image of a horrific case. It was a place that left a moral vacuum for two children who would go on to kill and leave the unanswered question: why did they do it? Pathologist Alan Williams stated that Bulger suffered so many injuries42 in totalthat none could be identified as the fatal blow. By contrast, Ann Thompson was demonised as a fat, drunk, uncaring mother. [4] Both boys were reported to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, and Venables in particular told of experiencing nightmares and flashbacks of the murder. They took on new identities, tried to create new lives. He has had more love and attention than a lot of children I know. 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. I came back and then (Mrs Venables) went out. In passing sentence, Deputy High Bailiff Alastair Montgomerie said that the teenager had "put that person at significant risk of serious harm" and in a "perilous position" by making the allegation. Could the pair of them have sought out a younger boy in order to gain dominion over him? "[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. 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". "My heart really goes out to them. In the absence of hard information, appearances are sufficient cause for condemnation. He pleaded guilty via video link to three charges of making indecent images of children, and one of possessing a "paedophile manual", that included advice for would-be child molesters, including instructions on child grooming and evading detection. On the other hand, little is known about the player's background or family life. Venables's identity uncovered before news of breach 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? Few people would argue that point. [9], Lord Donaldson criticised Howard's intervention, describing the increased tariff as "institutionalised vengeance [by] a politician playing to the gallery". [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. Despite the passage of nearly three decades, the story of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables continues to stun. Aged just 10 years old, Robert Thompson and fellow schoolboy Jon Venables brutally murdered toddler James Bulger after abducting him from a shopping mall in 1993. Jon's parents said they talked to their son about James after he was arrested, but had to stop. Later, a TV and games console were added, and in his teenage years he decorated the walls with prints of paintings by L.S. "Just TV programmes and little things remind me of the good times we had together . The female staff member was suspended for sexual misconduct; she never returned to work at Red Bank. Venables later described how Bulger seemed to like him, holding his hand and allowing him to pick him up on the meandering journey to the scene of his murder. We feel so sorry for him because he must be going through so much torment. 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. Video, On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry, Met Gala 2023: Stars celebrate Karl Lagerfeld, HSBC says 1 bank buyout boosted profit by $1.5bn, Yellen warns US could run out of cash in a month, Shooting suspect was deported four times - US media, Palestinian hunger striker dies in Israel prison. [9] The railway embankment upon which his body had been discovered was soon adorned with hundreds of bunches of flowers. Jon Venables Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty 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. Some seven years later, the Court of Human Rights would rule that they should never have been tried in an adult court. After the murder, people wanted answers to the question were looking at here. 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. [4][12] Thompson and Venables had approached James Bulger, took him by the hand, and led him out of the shopping centre. Summing up, the judge, Mr Justice Morland, told them they had committed a crime of "unparalleled evil and barbarity". [128] On 7 February, Venables pleaded guilty to possession of indecent images of children for a second time. Home Secretary David Blunkett approved the decision, and they were released a few weeks later on lifelong licence after serving eight years. Write A Comment On 12th February 1993, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables kidnapped, tortured and killed two-year-old James Bulger in Liverpool. football, snooker, things like that. Little James was led away by News stories reported the demeanour of the defendants. 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. [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. '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.'. He was fearful of the other boy. She said that the killers of James Bulger should have undergone "programmes" to help turn their lives around, rather than being prosecuted. Both had blood on their shoes; the blood on Thompson's shoe was matched to Bulger's through DNA tests. Suffice to say that the word evil is never far away from the names of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables. [131], On 4 March 2019, Bulger's father Ralph lost a legal challenge to lift the lifelong order protecting Venables' anonymity. He has had more love and attention than a lot of children I know. 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. The breakthrough came when a woman, upon seeing slightly enhanced images of the two boys on national television, recognised Venables, and remembered seeing him playing truant with Thompson in the Bootle area that day. It seems the natural assumption. [9][61] The European Court case led to the new Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, reviewing the minimum sentence. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of Terms and Conditions. James Bulger's brothers Some of the images involved children as young as two years old and some showed the rape of young girls. Quite obviously, overseeing a home environment in which physical, emotional, verbal and sexual violence is rife is bad parenting. "[65] This was supported by the fabrication of passports, national insurance numbers, qualification certificates, and medical records. Was their upbringing responsible? 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". A Ministry of Justice spokesman declined to comment on the reports. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Parents of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson talk about their sons, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. He has had his holidays like everyone else. He was seen as one of the most successful murder of James "[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. That's the thing that upsets me because obviously, where I was standing poor little James must have been not far . In December that year, the paper was fined 30,000 for contempt of court and ordered to pay costs of 120,000. Research into the James Bulger Murders Jon Venables and Robert Thompson. A woman has revealed that she discovered that a man she once dated was in fact Jon Venables. . A woman walks past the Beatles statue in the snow at Pier Head in Liverpool as the Met Office has issued an amber warning for strong winds bringing blizzard conditions and up to 40cm of snow in some areas. Jon Venables (left) and Robert Thomspon were found guilty of abducting and murdering James (Image: PA) Denise soon realised her son was gone, and an announcement was made over the tannoy. Bulger's family, along with many others, complained, and the game was subsequently withdrawn by its UK distributor, GSP. And wasnt known to have been bullied at school at any point. As a result, we've decided to take you behind the scenes of the Mbappe family. The paper also stated that Bulger family's lawyers had consulted psychiatric experts in order to present the parole panel with a report which suggested that Thompson is an undiagnosed psychopath, citing his lack of remorse during his trial and arrest. It was also revealed that Cheshire police had produced a "threat assessment" to try to establish what could happen to Venables were his new identity revealed. Since his release in 2001 Thompson has kept a low profile and done his best to maintain his anonymity. [38] Thompson was considered to have taken the leading role in the abduction process, though it was Venables who had apparently initiated the idea of taking Bulger to the railway line. [47], Shortly after the trial, and after the judge had recommended a minimum sentence of eight years, Lord Taylor of Gosforth, the Lord Chief Justice, recommended that the two boys should serve a minimum of ten years,[9] which would have made them eligible for release in February 2003 at the age of 20. Our feelings haven't changed towards him. [34] Thompson is said to have asked police whether Bulger had been taken to hospital to "get him alive again. Venables and Thompson were released from prison many years later and given new identities. Venables was formally warned by the Probation Service for breaking a "good behaviour" clause in his licence. 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. A video still of James Bulger, aged 2 years old, being led away in the 'New Strand' shopping centre, Protesters wait for the arrival of King Charles III and the Queen Consort for their visit to Liverpool Central Library, Wreaths are laid at the Cenotaph in central London, in commemoration for Anzac Day, Waves crash over Tynemouth pier on the North East coast of England, People cross the finish line at the 2023 London Marathon, A Wrexham fan in a Deadpool costume ahead of the Vanarama National League match at The Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, A demonstrator wears a costume as people protest during the Extinction Rebellion's 'The Big One' event, in London, Britain, The funeral cortege of Paul OGrady travels through the village of Aldington, Kent ahead of his funeral at St Rumwolds Church, Georgia Harrison, who was a victim of revenge porn, at a demonstration organised by Refuge outside the Houses of Parliament, calling for a violence against women and girls code of practice to be added to the Online safety bill, People walk at the Taihaku Cherry Tree Orchard at Alnwick Gardens in Alnwick, Northumberland, A pelican sits in St Jamess Park, London, People take part in the Nagar Kirtan procession through the city centre in Southampton, during Vaisakhi celebrations to mark the birth of the Khalsa and to celebrate the spring harvest and the solar new year, Former Chelsea players and fans show the Samaritans' 24-hour helpline number 116 123 on the back of their shirts during the launch of the TalkMoreThanFootball campaign from Three, during halftime of Chelsea v Brighton at Stamford Bridge, London, Protesters outside York Magistrates Court, where Patrick Thelwell is charged with threatening behaviour after eggs were thrown at King Charles III during his visit to York in November, British milliner Justin Smith, from J. Smith Esquire, with a crown he has created using 319 Scrabble tiles to mark Scrabble's 75th anniversary and King Charles III's coronation, US President Joe Biden delivers a speech on business development at Ulster University in Belfast, People take part in a rally in Trafalgar Square in London, in support of striking NHS junior doctors, as the British Medical Association holds a 96-hour walkout in a dispute over pay, Masked people attack a police vehicle with petrol bombs in Derrys Creggan area on on 25th anniversary of Good Friday Agreement, People taking part in the annual procession in Glasgow as part of the Sikh Vaisakhi celebration to celebrate the Birth of the Sikh Nation, Visitors dressed in costumes during the Star Wars Celebration at the ExCel London in east London, Lorries queue to enter the Port of Dover in Dover, Britain. Although they were separated from their parents, they were within touching distance when their families attended the trial. [4] After a period of apparently reduced supervision, Venables began excessively drinking, taking drugs, and downloading child abuse images, as well as visiting Merseyside, which was a breach of his licence. It is just heartbreaking.". Where James Bulger killer Jon Venables is now - The Mirror So whats the ultimate answer here? Jon's brother and sister both had learning difficulties and were being taught in separate special schools, while Jon himself was hyperactive and always playing up. Is climate change killing Australian wine? Thompson saw his mother and siblings subjected to severe, physical and sexual violence at the hands of his father. The bullying and violence continued after his father left, with the brothers turning on themselves. "Contrary to what the papers will tell you, he is not a little urchin boy. They said their son met Robert Thompson in September 1991, when Jon was transferred from another school. [9][17] An eyewitness said that when he saw Bulger at the canal, the boy was "crying his eyes out". "He has had the love and attention that any boy would. [103] A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice stated that there was a worldwide injunction against publication of either killer's location or new identity. She said that Jon was always "loving, caring, thoughtful and considerate . Jon Venables He has been educated. Before their trial in November 1993, the press ferreted around the doorways and back alleys of Walton village, Liverpool, looking for any thing that might determine that these two 10-year-olds were indeed evil or the product of evil. Two days later, after a huge police search, James's battered body was found on a railway line more than two miles away. On 27 June 2011, the parole board decided that he would remain in custody, and that his parole would not be considered again for at least another year. The first involved downloading 57 indecent pictures of children on to his computer between February 2009 and February 2010. [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. ", Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. [135][136], In August 2001, a stage play titled The Age of Consent by Peter Morris was performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. To understand their brutal actions, some have claimed that one of the sequels of Childs Play 1991s Childs Play 3 inspired their behaviour. Recollections from key people involved in the Bulger trial, ten years on. Lord Justice Nigel Davis said that the offence was "close to the line" for an immediate prison sentence but suspended the sentence, after observing an early admission of guilt and remorse by the woman. I know how I feel as a mother. Ann Thompson was portrayed as an incompetent alcoholic, while Susan Venables was painted as a loose woman whose neighbours "noted a procession of men friends for Mrs Venables". [5] Venables was sent to prison in 2010 for breaching the terms of his licence, was released on parole again in 2013, and in November 2017 was again sent to prison for possessing child sexual abuse images on his computer. 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. "[121] The incident occurred after a man from Exeter posted photographs on a website devoted to identifying paedophiles, allegedly showing Venables as an adult, and revealing his name. Hes denied parole on 27 July 2011. Once again, her absent husband was curiously left alone by the press. Faced with the near-inconceivability of the crime itself, and two suspects below the age at which the law judges young people as morally capable, the media and the public needed surrogate criminals to bear the blame, to be the object of their sense of outrage and desire for retribution. 'I walked round for a couple of hours trying to find them. [130] He was scheduled for another parole hearing in October 2022 but it was postponed for at least three months. [146], In January 2019, the short film Detainment was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the 91st Academy Awards. 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 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. [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. ", James Bulger's killers are once again being branded monsters. 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. 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. [88] On 14 July 2016, a woman from Margate in Kent was jailed for three years after sending Twitter messages to Bulger's mother, in which she posed as one of his killers, and as Bulger's ghost. That being the case, the chances of both boys suffering from it is minimal. [9] The increased minimum term was overturned in 1997 by the House of Lords that ruled it "unlawful" for the Home Secretary to decide on minimum sentences for young offenders. [41], Thompson and Venables did not speak during the trial, and the case against them was based to a large extent on the more than 20 hours of tape-recorded police interviews with the boys, which were played back in court. 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 boys, it's said, grew up 'afraid of each other'. "[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. I wish we could turn the clocks back,' Mrs [112] At the court hearing, it emerged that Venables had posed in online chat rooms as 35-year-old Dawn "Dawnie" Smith, a married woman from Liverpool who boasted about abusing her 8-year-old daughter, in the hope of obtaining further child sexual abuse material. In November 1993, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables became the youngest convicted murderers in British history. He has never really been a truant. The pathologist's report, which was read out in court, found that Bulger's foreskin had been forcibly pulled back. [52] During the police investigation, it emerged that Child's Play 3 was one of the films that Venables' father had rented in the months prior to the killing, but it was not established that Venables had ever watched it. WebA few days after the body of little Jamie Bulger had been found, Venables and Thompson were taken into custody. Jon Venables - IMDb Thompson and Venables were charged on 20 February 1993 with abduction and murder. It is as if she thinks of herself walking around with a sign above her head: Mother of Bulger Murderer. Had he gone on to lead such a life, that might have been the last the British public ever heard about Jon Venables. The film is based on transcripts of the police interviews with Thompson and Venables after their arrests. James was snatched from the Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, Merseyside, on February 12, 1993, by Robert Thompson and Jon Venables. [72][73] The Observer revealed that both Venables and Thompson had passed A-Levels during their sentences. Despite commonly held beliefs, psychopathy is mostly determined genetically. 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 And thats a theory that doesnt stand up to very much scrutiny at all. [27], Thompson and Venables laid James Bulger across the railway tracks and weighted his head down with rubble, hoping that a train would hit him and his death would be ruled an accident. Jonathan Foster reports", "Drug dealer who found James Bulger's body jailed after crashing into family's car", "Death of James Bulger: Pt 4, Ten-Year-Old Suspects", "Death of James Bulger: Pt 5, Robert Denies, Jon Cries", "Liverpool Tries to Reconcile Murder and a Boy Next Door", "James Bulger documentary: Jon Venables so haunted by toddler victim he detected 'baby smell' on everything he wore, C5 show claims", "The secret meetings that set James's killers free", "Bulger ruling: If the defendants could not talk about their crime, how could they conduct a defence?
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