Jon Venables – one of the two killers of toddler James Bulger twenty years ago – is being released on parole, after he was sent back to jail for sex offences.
The decision to release Jon Venables was taken last week by a parole board, although it has only just been revealed, prompting an angry reaction from members of James Bulger’s family. The solicitor representing his father Ralph Bulger said relatives were disappointed and dismayed.
“For Ralph and his family the living nightmare continues and is exacerbated by the problems now created by the reckless decision to free Jon Venables without any publicly disclosed safeguards”, he said.
The toddler’s mother Denise Fergus, said she was shocked, after calling for a full investigation into all the details of the case. She told the Daily Mail: “I have not been told what conditions they are going to impose, and even whether he will still be banned from entering the county of Merseyside.”
Venables, who is now in his thirties, had his parole revoked in 2010. He was sentenced to two years in prison after he admitted downloading and distributing indecent images of children.
Ralph Bulger and Denise Fergus spoke to his parole hearing earlier this year, arguing that he should remain in jail, but it appears that the decision went against them.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: “The re-release of life-licenced offenders is directed by the independent Parole Board once they are satisfied they can be safely managed in the community… they may be recalled to prison at any time for breaching their licence conditions.”
“Additionally, they will be subject to strict controls and restrictions for as long as their risk requires them.”
James was just two years old when he was killed in Bootle in 1993, by Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who were both aged 10 at the time. They were both released in 2001, and given new identities.
However it emerged that Venables had developed drink and drug problems, breached his parole terms on several occasions, and had begun accessing and distributing indecent images of children over the internet.
Mrs Fergus said: “Venables has shown time and time again that he cannot be trusted and that he is a danger to the public and himself.” And she said she would continue fighting for justice for her son James.