The family of James Bulger have written to the Parole Board asking to have their say as they fight to keep his killer Jon Venables locked up for life. They believe Venables should "rot" behind bars and have vowed to do everything in their power to stop his release.
Latest release bid
Venables, now 43, has applied to be released from prison. His case will be heard by the Parole Board at a two-day oral hearing slated for the middle of October. This comes more than two years after his previous appeal was rejected.
Venables, who tortured and murdered two-year-old James Bulger in 1993 when he was 10, was released on licence in July 2001 but recalled to prison in February 2010 after indecent images of children were found on his computer. He was freed a second time in 2017 for the same offence.
Family's plea
In 2023, the Parole Board rejected Venables' bid for freedom, concluding he still posed a danger to children and could reoffend. Now, the family of James have written to the Parole Board asking to have their say on the impact he has had on their lives.
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."
They added: "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."
Background of the case
Venables and Robert Thompson, also 10, snatched James from the Strand shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, in February 1993 while his mother, Denise Fergus, was paying for shopping at a butchers. They led the toddler two and a half miles to a railway track where they beat him to death with bricks and a metal bar. His body was found two days later.
The case horrified the nation. The boys were given lifelong anonymity orders and new identities. Venables was recalled to prison in February 2010 after indecent images 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.
Parole hearing details
Venables had an application to be freed rejected in 2020 and again in December 2023. Robert Thompson, unlike Venables, is not known to have reoffended since his release.
The family have also asked for the hearing to be made public and applied for James's mum Denise 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 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 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." A decision on the public appeal is expected on Monday.
