James Bulger Killer Returned To Prison

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May 14, 2002
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11:56pm UK, Tuesday March 02, 2010

James Jordan, Sky News Online
Jon Venables, one of the killers of James Bulger, has been returned to prison after breaching the terms of his release, the Ministry of Justice says.

Source: Sky News


Jon Venables and Robert Thompson snatched James before battering him to death

Venables, 27, and Robert Thompson abducted and murdered two-year-old James in February 1993.

Venables was released from custody in 2001, but he has been recalled following the breach.

A spokesman said: "We can confirm that Jon Venables has been recalled to custody following a breach of licence conditions.

"Offenders on licence are subject to strict conditions; if they breach those conditions they are subject to immediate recall.

"There is a worldwide injunction in place that prohibits any reporting including reporting on the internet, that could identify him or his location."


James was aged just two

Details of the nature of the breach have not been released.

Venables and Thompson were aged 10 when they embarked on a crime that stunned the world.

On February 13, 1993, they abducted James from a shopping centre and killed him on a railway line.

The toddler's battered body was found by children playing on a freight railway line 200 yards from Walton Lane police station, Liverpool, and more than two miles from the Strand shopping centre.

Days later Venables and Thompson were arrested in connection with the murder of James, and later charged. They were the youngest to be charged with murder in
the 20th century.

In November that year, they were convicted following a 17-day trial at Preston Crown Court and ordered to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, the normal substitute sentence for life imprisonment when the offender is a juvenile.

Infamous CCTV images released at the time of the crime showed James being led away by the hand.

The two boys, who were truanting from school, walked James around the streets of Liverpool for more than two miles, stopping occasionally to kick and punch him.

They told adults who intervened that he was their brother.

They left his body on the tracks in the hope it would be destroyed by a train.

The toddler had been splattered with blue paint and his battered head lay surrounded by a pile of bricks.

Trial judge Mr Justice Morland told the pair they had committed a crime of "unparalleled evil and barbarity".
 
May 14, 2002
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http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/vi...Back_To_Jail_On_Suspected_Child_Porn_Offences


Media Warned Over Bulger Killer's Identity

2:12pm UK, Sunday March 07, 2010

Alison Chung, Sky News Online
The Children's Secretary has told Sky News the media is getting close to breaking the law over reports about James Bulger's killer.

The latest claims by the Sunday Mirror are that probation chiefs revoked Jon Venables' licence because of child pornography allegations.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw will say only that "extremely serious allegations" caused Venables, 27, to be returned to prison last week.

Newspaper speculation about those allegations includes claims of drug use, violence and sex crimes.

The murdered toddler's family have called for full details of the allegations to be disclosed - but the Government has insisted Venables' anonymity must be protected.

Ed Balls said some newspapers are getting too close to revealing Venables' identity which would undermine the integrity of the criminal justice process and could prevent prosecution.

"If we responded to the desire for people to know the facts in public in a way which ends up prejudicing a legal case, we would look back and think we made very irresponsible decisions," he told Sky News.

"At the same time we will do nothing that would put children or adults at risk, now or in the future."


James Bulger was picked at random to be attacked by Venables

Venables was controversially released on life licence in 2001 with a new identity after serving eight years for the toddler's murder.

James's mother Denise Fergus believes Venables should lose his anonymity if he is charged with new offences.

Her spokesman Chris Johnson said: "If after that, depending on the outcome of the court case, the powers that be decide that he should have some new identity yet again, then we'll deal with that when we come to it.

"But she can't understand why he doesn't appear in a dock under his own name, if that's going to be where he ends up."

Mrs Fergus does not believe Venables should be at liberty and should have served closer to 15 years.

"In her mind, if there has been an offence committed, it means that that could have been avoided," Mr Johnson said.

Mrs Fergus has demanded to know why Venables was put back in jail, and is meeting Mr Straw this week.

She found out about Venables' recall only on Tuesday, shortly before the news became public.

She told a newspaper that when a probation officer told her she "threw question after question at her, but she blocked every one".

"My fear was that he'd hurt another child, or any human being," she said.

Venables and accomplice Robert Thompson were just 10 when they battered two-year-old James to death in Liverpool 17 years ago.

They were both released on lifelong licence in 2001, requiring them to obey strict conditions such as not contacting each other or returning to the city where James was killed.
 
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Straw: 'I Won't Answer On Bulger Killer'

7:27pm UK, Monday March 08, 2010

Miranda Richardson, Sky News Online
Jack Straw has refused to reveal why one of James Bulger's killers was sent back to jail, saying it would not be in the interests of justice.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/vi...Venables:_James_Bulger_Package_By_Mark_White_

The Justice Secretary made a statement to MPs in the Commons - and said that officials in his department had discovered that during the week of February 22 there had been a compromise of Jon Venables' new identity.

They then found there had been a "serious breach" of his licence.

James Bulger's parents were informed under the Victim Contact Scheme.

Mr Straw said he "fully understood" the concern and frustration of the child-victim's mother, Denise Fergus, but that after "active consideration", he had decided it was not "in the interest of justice" to reveal more.


Straw: 'I Won't Answer On Bulger Killer'

7:27pm UK, Monday March 08, 2010

Miranda Richardson, Sky News Online
Jack Straw has refused to reveal why one of James Bulger's killers was sent back to jail, saying it would not be in the interests of justice.

The Justice Secretary made a statement to MPs in the Commons - and said that officials in his department had discovered that during the week of February 22 there had been a compromise of Jon Venables' new identity.

They then found there had been a "serious breach" of his licence.

James Bulger's parents were informed under the Victim Contact Scheme.

Mr Straw said he "fully understood" the concern and frustration of the child-victim's mother, Denise Fergus, but that after "active consideration", he had decided it was not "in the interest of justice" to reveal more.

Why I Won't Give In To Pressure

"Premature disclosure would undermine justice, including the investigation and potential for prosecution of this alleged crime," he said.

It came as Denise Fergus called for those monitoring Venables to be fired.

Reports have claimed that the 27-year-old, who with Robert Thompson killed James Bulger in 1993, was taken back to prison after he was found with images of child abuse.

Images rated at level 4 - the second most serious - were allegedly found on his home computer, The Sun has reported.

Spare a thought for a young man called David Calvert who was 'outed' as Jon Venables five years ago.

Read more from Sky News' crime correspondent

But ministers have so far resisted calls to reveal what prompted the recall, saying only that Venables faced "extremely serious allegations".

Venables and Thompson were released with new identities in 2001, having served eight years for the murder.

They are on life licence, meaning they can be taken back to prison at any time if they re-offend or if they are thought to pose a threat to the public.

Both were 10 years old when they seized James from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, and battered him to death near a railway line. At the time, Thompson was thought to have led the killing.