Child killer Jon Venables has won his bid for a private parole hearing, despite a plea from James Bulger's mother.
Denise Fergus applied to attend the hearing, more than 30 years after Venables, 43, and fellow killer Robert Thompson abducted two-year-old James from the Strand shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside. The pair took him to a nearby railway line before torturing and murdering the young boy in one of the most notorious killings in British history.
Anonymity order upheld
Venables, 43, is the subject of a lifetime anonymity order and fought to keep the public out from his impending parole hearing which could see him set free for a second time. He claimed his "ability to participate effectively if the hearing was public would be compromised as would be the quality of his evidence".
His representatives also said it was "impossible to have a meaningful public hearing without running the risk that the injunction will be breached. Because of the terms of the injunction transparency will not be achieved".
Written ruling
Today, in a written ruling, Sir John Saunders on behalf of the Chair of the Parole Board denied Denise a public hearing. He wrote: "Holding the hearing in public would also restrict the ability of the participants in the parole hearing to give their best evidence in my judgment. It would be very difficult for Jon Venables to give evidence in the knowledge that he could be being listened to by people who are seeking to get information so that they can kill him."
"HMPPS staff may be affected in the evidence they give by the same knowledge. That would not necessarily even be something of which they were aware."
History of recalls
Venables was first 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 recalled a second time for the same crime in 2017 and has remained in prison since, with parole specialists finding he is still a risk to children.
Denise and her husband, Stuart Fergus, previously argued that if the application for a public parole hearing was granted, "they would finally feel listened to and they are prepared for the hearing to take place in public".
Denise and James' father Ralph divorced in 1995. The family were previously told the hearing will not take place until September at the earliest. Venables and Thompson were detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure in November 1993, the child equivalent of an indefinite prison sentence. Thompson was released in June 2001, aged 18, and is not thought to have re-offended since.
Last month Denise told the Mirror: "It's time James' killer faced up to justice and saw the trauma he's caused me and my family repeatedly. We are ready to face him in a public hearing. We urge the authorities to allow this to happen."
"It's important everyone knows the real truth of his crimes and that he still poses the greatest danger to other families like ours. I have no doubt that, if released, he will harm or kill again."
"A public hearing would be a great opportunity for authorities to show how rigorous the parole system is. A public hearing would not only allow justice to be seen to be done, but we would finally feel listened to."
